Committee Appointed To Write Massachusetts Casino Bill

As Massachusetts lawmakers continue to debate over differences in the casino bill, legislative leaders will appoint six members to a conference committee on Tuesday that will be charged with reaching a compromise that both the House and Senate can agree on.

Governor Deval Patrick has insisted that a final version of the casino bill be finalized before the session ends on July 31.

“They will work out those differences and I intend to be active in that because we are getting toward the end of the session,” Patrick said “I’m going to put down my own marker about some of the things that I am looking for in the final bill.”

While the Governor supports a limited number of destination casinos he is opposed to slot machines at the state’s racetracks, which is a main difference between the two bills.

The original bill, that passed the House in April, will allow up to 750 slot machines in each of the state’s four racetracks and two destination style casinos. However the Senate bill that was passed last week increases the number of casinos to three but maintains a ban on slot machines at the racetracks.