Thanks to efforts to restrict the development of a piece of land in Tiverton, a government casino and hotel became its best use.
A gambler under scrutiny for having found ways to tilt the odds in his favor is a good metaphor for taxpayers who are never permitted to win in the rigged game that politicians, labor unions, and other special interests have built.
By way of a preface, I’d note that I believe campaign finance laws to be an unconstitutional infringement on citizens’ rights, and on the matter of a casino in Tiverton, I’m ultimately ambivalent (though my being so upsets some folks, locally). My opposition to gambling, generally, has mainly to do with the fact that it’s become a means for government to profit from a formerly illegal activity, but if Tiverton gets in on that game, the revenue better go toward tax relief.
The preface notwithstanding, the following snippet from a Jennifer Bogdan article in yesterday’s Providence Journal caught my attention. The article is about local clergy’s decision to part ways with a group calling itself “Save Tiverton” because of the secrecy of its backers.
Save Tiverton has not filed any campaign expenditure documents with the state Board of Elections, which would be required if the group spent money. Richard Thornton, the board’s campaign finance director, said no complaints about the group have been received. …
To his knowledge, [Holy Trinity Episcopal Church’s Rev. John] Higginbotham said, the backers haven’t spent any money or done any fundraising despite promising a funding stream.
What’s eye-catching is that some significant number of Tiverton residents appears to have received two-page mailers promoting a meeting and providing a sheet of “myths” (PDF). The photocopied sheets came in a nondescript envelope, with no indications of individuals behind Save Tiverton. Notably, the return address is 1956 Main Rd., which is the address of Rev. Higginbotham’s church. More notably, perhaps, the bulk-rate stamp permit is provided through Hingham, Massachusetts, up on the bay next to Quincy.
While it’s certainly possible to conduct printing and mailing entirely by Internet and phone, Hingham would be a bit far for local interests to drive if they had to deliver printouts. It is, however, closer to Taunton and Everette, two pending locations for casinos in Massachusetts that the Save Tiverton myth sheet notes are creating “saturation” in the local gambling market.
Ian Donnis’s weekly TGIF column highlights Twin River’s plans for a casino in Tiverton twice, once from the state’s perspective, and once from the town’s:
The parent company of Twin River may have pulled an ace when it unveiled a plan Monday to transfer gambling from Newport Grand and expand it at a new site on 45 undeveloped acres in northern Tiverton, a dice throw from the Massachusetts border. With Newport remaining unwilling to add table games, a so-called convenience casino in Tiverton may be the most pragmatic option for protecting Rhode Island’s third-largest source of state revenue.
The local perspective comes via a “dispatch” from me, which Ian juxtaposes with John Loughlin’s comments.
I’d only add this, after another day of conversations: The casino proposal appears to be much less controversial, locally, than the Tiverton Glen “multi-use development” proposed a few miles south on the highway.
Rumors permeated among Tiverton’s politically active residents, last night, that some big news would be coming today. I joked to my friends that the town planned to secede to Massachusetts and move the planned Fall River to Tiverton.
As it turned out, that joke was a bit like splitting the zeros on a roulette table.
News is out — see here and here, for examples — that Twin River Management Group has plans to move its Newport Grand facility to Tiverton, along Stafford Rd. directly on the other side of Rt. 24 from an area of Fall River, Massachusetts, that is heavily developed with retail businesses.
My op-ed in today’s Providence Journal places the match of Rhode Island’s experience of the tobacco settlement money (a one-time-fix turned bad debt) on the pile of bad decisions that the state government has made in the past decade or so:
According to a review by ProPublica, Rhode Island has just refinanced some of the resulting debt, with the expectation that “the deal would shave $700 million off a $2.8 billion tab due on the bonds in 2052.” In that regard, it’s a bit like the state’s pension reform, which was marketed as salvation but merely shaved about $3 billion from $9 billion of unfunded liability.
The people who operate Rhode Island’s government are racking up quite a list of these liabilities.
My op-ed in today’s Providence Journal places the match of Rhode Island’s experience of the tobacco settlement money (a one-time-fix turned bad debt) on the pile of bad decisions that the state government has made in the past decade or so:
According to a review by ProPublica, Rhode Island has just refinanced some of the resulting debt, with the expectation that “the deal would shave $700 million off a $2.8 billion tab due on the bonds in 2052.” In that regard, it’s a bit like the state’s pension reform, which was marketed as salvation but merely shaved about $3 billion from $9 billion of unfunded liability.
The people who operate Rhode Island’s government are racking up quite a list of these liabilities.
Some libertarians have been encouraged to see the liberalization of laws on social issues, but they should go beyond the cliché that politics makes strange bedfellows and wonder why they have the company they do.
Legislation submitted last week would allow people to gamble their assets (such as houses and investment accounts) at the new state-run casino.
A brief analysis of the referenda questions that will appear on this November’s ballot in RI suggests that the state would be better off reordering its priorities, rather than expanding debt and doubling down on casinos.
Justin writes live from a joint House & Senate Committee Hearing on casino legislation.
The state government’s negotiated take from proposed casino games at Twin River and Newport Grand would provide a sliver of relief from a swath of loss and may not be worth the shift to full-scale casinos.
The specter of a double-dip recession brings into stark relief, for Justin, the lack of vision among those leading the state.
Ian Donnis has looked into RI’s negotiations for its share of prospective casino revenue, and pulling all the data together suggests that table games may only mean $9 million per year to the state government.
RI’s unions are behind efforts to increase state revenue through gambling and “taxes on the rich” in an apparent effort to counter the effects of Massachusetts casinos, but the state will have to decide whether the consequences are worth the attempt.
Justin writes live from the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources hearing, including (for one thing) creation of a new public consortium with powers of eminent domain.
Justin wonders why the concern of left-wing commentator Robert Reich that state-run gambling is a regressive tax receives no voice in Rhode Island.
Justin writes live from the Senate Committee on Special Legislation, with particular interest in casino-related legislation submitted on behalf of the attorney general.
A bill originating in the attorney general’s office transfers all authority over casino gambling in RI to the Division of Lotteries and omits “conflict of interest” rules for its employees.
Rep. Joseph Trillo supports a casino ballot question, but he has submitted legislation for a broader study of ways to increase RI’s gambling revenue, possibly including a casino on Allens Ave. in Providence.
In the space of three minutes, the Senate Committee on Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs had amended and approved legislation calling for a public vote allowing state-run casino operations in Newport Grand and Twin River without further economic analysis.
Justin checks out a (warm and uncomfortable) Senate Special Legislation hearing concerning Newport Grand table games.
Justin notes the movement of Newport Grand casino gambling through the General Assembly and suggests that a government-run casino may not benefit the people of Rhode Island.