After an almost three-hour debate, the Rhode Island House of Representatives voted Tuesday, 62 to 11, to give IGT and Bally’s a 20-year no-bid contract to provide the state’s gambling services.
GOP lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to amend the gambling bill, as part of what they called an attempt to strike a better deal for taxpayers.
Republican representatives point to how Massachusetts takes a higher percentage of revenue from table games in that state. GOP Whip Michael Chippendale (R-Foster) said he disliked the implied threat that IGT might leave Rhode Island if it didn’t get what it wanted.
“I find that probably out of everything the most reprehensible, when we as a state are kowtowing to the threats of an extremely powerful, extremely well-funded organization and their machine of lobbyists and PR folks,” he said.
In a year when some Democrats are pressing for higher taxes on the wealthy, Rep. Brian Newberry (R-North Smithfield) argued they were leaving money on the table by not seeking a better deal with IGT and Bally’s.
And with the fast pace of technological change, Republicans argued that a 20-year contract does not make sense.
Democrats fired back by noting how Rhode Island gets a higher percentage of video slot revenue — the top source of state gambling revenue — than Massachusetts.
They call this revised gambling bill a way to preserve more than 1,000 IGT jobs and bolster the economy, and to deliver $2 million more in upfront money to the state than an earlier version.
“We are protecting our third-largest tax revenue for the state of Rhode Island,” said Rep. Carol McEntee (D-South Kingstown) “And we need to do that. This bill is great because look around us — we’ve got Connecticut, we’ve got Massachusetts. The competition is fierce. We have to protect what we have here in Rhode Island.”
At least two Democrats, Reps. Liana Cassar of Barrington and John Lombardi of Providence, voted against the bill, while at least one Republican, Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung of Cranston voted for it.
It’s not yet clear when the IGT-Bally’s bill will move to the state Senate.
