On Casino Gambling: House Hedges Its Bets?

The most prominent bill to legalize casino gambling easily cleared the state Senate earlier this month, but in a possible harbinger of its fate across the hall, the House voted Thursday on two other gambling bills.

The House voted 249 to 65 to kill House Bill 665, but decided 170 to 160 to table House Bill 678. The action leaves a potential vehicle to advance an alternative casino bill, possibly with competitive bidding for more than one location.

HB 678 would propose up to six facilities. A bid would be a minimum of $5 million for one of four facilities, and 600 slot machines, and a minimum of $10 million for one of two facilities, with 1,200 machines, said Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, R-Manchester, co-sponsor of the bill. All together, it would add up to no more than 5,000 machines, similar to Senate Bill 152.

"I have no concern where the facilities are," Vaillancourt said from House floor. "This would be an open-bidding process."

HB 665 would allow for the construction and operation of two destination casinos – one in the White Mountains and one in a county bordering Massachusetts. It included a dedicated stream of revenue from slot machines and table games into the state's highway fund.

Sponsors of HB 665: Rep. Edmond Gionet (R-Lincoln), Rep. Ken Weyler (R-Kingston), Rep. Herb Richardson (R-Lancaster), Rep. Robert Walsh (R-Manchester) and Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton)

Senate Bill 152, which the Senate passed 16-8, would allow up to 150 table games and 5,000 slot machines at one location. Gov. Maggie Hassan (D-Exeter) has called for one highly regulated casino in southern New Hampshire.