Winthrop At Large Town Council Candidate, Ribeiro Hewitt, Has a Long Decade Plus History of Pushing Back Relentlessly on Predatory Legislation
- celesteribeirohewi
- Sep 4
- 3 min read
The article posted below is an example of Celeste Ribeiro Hewitt's undying quest to protect the state from predatory Gaming Legislation and it's proponents. SJC approves ballot question allowing second Massachusetts slots parlor
Updated: Jun. 28, 2016, 6:45 p.m.
|Published: Jun. 28, 2016, 5:45 p.m.
By
The Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday rejected an attempt to block a ballot question that would allow a second slots parlor in Massachusetts.
"Obviously, it's a good outcome. We're happy with it," said Jeffrey King, an attorney representing developer Eugene McCain, who filed the ballot question.
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Celeste Myers, one of the anti-casino activists who brought the suit, said her group is disappointed, but will respect the court's decision and continue to campaign against the ballot question. "Obviously, we'll do what we can to oppose this initiative," Myers said. "We anticipate there will be a pretty robust campaign on behalf of the proponents, and we hope to meet that."
McCain submitted a ballot question for the November 2016 ballot, which would allow the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to award a second license for a slots parlor. The only slots parlor license awarded by the state gaming commission went to Penn National Gaming, which built a slots facility at the Plainridge Harness Race track in Plainville. That slots parlor opened in June 2015.
The new ballot question is written in a way that restricts the license to a facility of a certain size that has horse racing - in other words, a facility similar to Suffolk Downs racetrack, which straddles Boston and Revere. McCain reportedly has an agreement to buy a property near Suffolk Downs.
Brian McNiff, a spokesman for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, said McCain is in the process of submitting his final round of signatures to get the question on the ballot.
A group of ten anti-casino activists filed a lawsuit in December asking the SJC to block the question from going forward. They argued that the question is a local matter. Under state law, a statewide ballot question cannot apply only to one locality. The also said the question is substantially similar to a 2014 ballot question that would have prohibited casino gambling. State law prohibits the approval of a ballot question that is "substantially the same" as a measure that was voted on in the previous statewide election.
The justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, in a decision written by Chief Justice Ralph Gants, rejected the arguments of the anti-casino activists and said Attorney General Maura Healey was right in affirming that the ballot question was constitutional.
On the question of whether it is a local matter, the court found that gaming is regulated by the state, is an issue of statewide concern and has statewide economic impact. "The construction workers who would build such a slots parlor, the employees who would operate it, and the visitors who would play the slots would not be limited to those residing in the host community, and the tax revenues anticipated from its operation would benefit State coffers," the decision said.
The justices also noted that the ballot question could potentially allow a slots parlor in a location outside of Suffolk Downs. "It may well be true that this petition was motivated by one person's desire to profit from the Commonwealth's developing gaming industry...But our focus in deciding whether an initiative petition reaches the voters must be on the actual law proposed by the petition, not on the motives that may lie behind it," Gants wrote.
The justices also found that the ballot question is not substantially the same as the 2014 ballot question.
Myers said her group will continue trying to convince voters to vote against the ballot initiative. "This constant barrage of inquiries and initiatives trying to expand the gaming industry in the state before the first few approvals are even up and running is a lot to swallow," Myers said.
She noted that even if McCain does get approval on the ballot, he must still get approval from local voters in a referendum on the project and secure a license from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
"He has long road ahead of him, and it's not going to be unopposed," Myers said.
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