Massachusetts voters reject casino repeal bid
Voters in the U.S. state of Massachusetts on Tuesday rejected via ballot a move to repeal a 2011 state law allowing up to three regional casino resorts and one electronic gaming parlour, reports the Associated Press.
The decision safeguards Wynn Resorts Ltd’s plan to build a new resort north of Boston.
Wynn aims to convert a contaminated site in the city of Everett on the Mystic River – that previously housed a Monsanto Co chemical plant – and turn it into a US$1.6 billion gaming resort (pictured in an artist’s rendering).
The vote clears the way for three projects approved by state gambling regulators to proceed: a slots parlour already under construction in Plainville as well as Wynn’s Everett scheme – confirmed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on September 17 – and a casino resort from MGM Resorts International in Springfield.
Steve Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts, told GGRAsia during the Global Gaming Expo 2014 in Las Vegas, that he was confident that Massachusetts voters would reject the repeal of casino gaming in that state.
“…the whole idea is to keep the tax revenues and the jobs in Massachusetts,” he told us.
The Wynn Resorts project is expected to create 3,700 construction jobs and 4,382 permanent jobs, generating US$267 million per annum in state and local taxes, said Union Gaming Research LLC in a note on September 17.
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