Why Casino gaming is good for Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Residents Want It! Polls indicate that Massachusetts residents strongly support casino gaming through a resort-style casino. Bay Staters spend $900 million on casino gaming in Connecticut and $4.5 billion on the Lottery annually.
• Economic Stimulation. Job growth from resort-style casinos decreases unemployment rates, welfare rates, and crime on a per capita basis. Resort-style Casinos also have been shown to increase home values in their surrounding areas.
• State Budget Crisis. $1.3 billion structural deficit. Crumbling roads and bridges. Cash-strapped cities and towns with local revenues barely keeping up with inflation. High property taxes. And growing health care, pensions, education and capital improvement needs. All point to the need for more public revenues.
• Stagnant Job Growth. Our economy continues to feel the pain of the 2001 national recession. Since the recession, Massachusetts has seen a sharper decline in employment than any other state in the nation.
• A Mature Lottery. The Lottery has reached a state of maturity. Growth is at just 1.8%, compared to the national average of 6.9%. Massachusetts relies heavily on two revenue streams – property taxes and the lottery to fund its 351 cities and towns. We need additional sources of revenue.
About Us
Principles
The Massachusetts Coalition for Jobs and Growth supports the general principles of Governor Deval Patrick's resort-style casino legislation to construct three resort-style casinos that will create tens of thousands of jobs and provide much-needed new revenue to the Commonwealth and our cities and towns.
This Coalition will be broad-based and will support the principles of the Governor's bill. We will not support any specific site or region, or any specific provisions of the bill.
The Coalition will recruit statewide stakeholders and local partners to organize groups, associations, and citizens around messages that emphasize the need for:
- Education, public safety, and fire services, especially in light of a structural budget deficit of over one billion dollars;
- Job growth;
- Infrastructure repairs and maintenance;
- Local aid relief for our financially starved cities and towns;
- Expanding our state's important tourism and convention industries.
Tell a friend!
Enter an email address to inform a friend about the Massachusetts Coalition for Jobs and Growth