Gambling issues roiling Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York



CLEVELAND, Ohio - As Ohio's casino and racino development has concluded - with four casinos and seven racinos seeking to build momentum - several nearby states are in the midst of heated debates regarding adding or removing gambling.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - As Ohio's casino and racino development has concluded - with four casinos and seven racinos seeking to build momentum - several nearby states are in the midst of heated debates regarding adding or removing gambling.

Massachusetts

Voters next month will face a measure to ban casinos in Massachusetts.

Question 3 on the Nov. 4 ballot would roll back a 2011 law that allowed casinos-resorts in the state. The law allows three casinos, in three different geographic regions, plus one slot parlor. None have yet opened.

In September, developer Steve Wynn, who has built high-end hotels on Las Vegas strip, received approval from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to build a $1.6 billion gambling resort in Everett, on the Mystic River north of Boston.

Supporters of the measure on the ballot say casinos will not provide an economic boost.

The Coalition to Protect Mass Jobs asks people to vote no, saying casinos will provide jobs, increase revenues and bring money back to the state that people are spending at casinos in other states.

New Jersey

It was a terrible year for Atlantic City, which lost of a third of its casinos as four closed. One more may be shuttered in the next month.

Thousands have lost their jobs. Tourism is expected to be affected now than only eight casinos remain.

Legalized sports betting in casinos and racinos, expected to begin last weekend, was delayed after a federal judge on Friday granted a request from the four major U.S. professional sports leagues and the NCAA to at least temporarily stop the state from allowing it.

Gov. Chris Christie provoked the battle when he signed a law on Oct. 17 that effectively repealed the state's ban on sports wagering and allowed it at racetracks and casinos.

New Jersey residents voted in 2011 to allow sports betting in their state, but the leagues have successfully used the courts to block the law's implementation.

They are now asking a federal judge to agree that Christie's move violates a federal ban on state-sanctioned sports betting.

New York

Companies are battling to gain approval to open casinos in upstate New York.

Voters gave their approval in 2013 to build as many as seven casinos.

The state has five tribal casinos and nine racinos.

The New York State Gaming Commission is in the process of licensing the first four.

It is expected to choose from 17 bids submitted for licenses.

Companies have presented proposals for casino-resorts with costs that range up to $1 billion and include hotels, golf courses and adventure parks.

This is a reprint from cleveland.com. to view the original, click here.


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