Does S&P Downgrade Sweeten Pot for Casinos?

The New Hampshire House has historically opposed casinos, but supporters argue for a change of heart after Standard & Poor's downgraded the state's bond outlook from stable to negative.

The S&P remarked on the state's "thin financial position" after a superior court struck down the Medicaid Enhance Tax, a big revenue source for state government.

State Rep. Richard Ames, D-Jaffrey, points to the credit rating in a Minority Report to the House, which is set to vote April 30 on the bill to legalize two casinos in New Hampshire.

"We have serious fiscal issues developing right before our eyes," Ames writes. "We can take steps to deal with it today or we can walk away and leave fiscal chaos for the next legislature and key programs we care about."

The House Ways and Means Committee voted 11-9 to recommend the full House kill the casino bill. 

The bill proposes two casinos with a combined total of 5,000 slot machines and 240 table games. A larger proposed facility would have to pay an $80 million license fee, while a smaller casino would pay $40 million for the license.

Together, the casinos would pay the state $139 million annually, with $25 million of that going as a revenue-share with towns and cities, and $5 million dedicated to problem gambling and related alcohol and drug addiction programs, according to Ames.

The S&P rating change is not the only thing that's changed since the House last took up – and defeated – a casino gambling bill. The latest version of the bill features that $25 million for communities, along with support for the host communities and adjacent towns. The bill includes language to limit live entertainment venues at the proposed casinos to no more than 1,500 seats. It also has provisions to reimburse charities for lost revenues for charitable gaming.

In writing the Majority Report, urging the House to reject this latest bill, Rep. Patricia Lovejoy, D-Stratham, calls them "feel good provisions to solicit votes."

"A second casino doubles the negative impacts to our state," according to Lovejoy.