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NH House Says “No” to Slots

Continuing a longstanding tradition of opposing expanded legalized gambling, the New Hampshire House of Representatives killed a pair of slot machine bills on Wednesday. New Hampshire was one of several states entertaining the issue of slot games and other forms of casino gambling during this year’s General Assembly, due to widespread budget deficits and economic woes related to the ongoing national recession.

The first bill would have put together and granted power to a state gaming authority. Subsequently, the commission would have been able to authorize as many as fifty-five hundred video slot machine games similar to online slots. This measure was voted down by the dismal margin of three hundred thirty-four to thirty-five. Another proposal, this one to put pokies at several privately-owned horseracing tracks throughout the state, was also squashed by a margin of two hundred ninety-five to seventy-two. Similar gambling legislation remains alive in the Senate, where it is being discussed right now. Proponents argue that the slots would generate jobs and millions of dollars worth of taxable income.

Critics don’t like the idea of slot machines tarnishing New Hampshire’s image as a family-friendly tourist destination, and worry about the possibility of problem gambling. One Representative said that “social ills” would eat up fifty million of the estimate two hundred million annually that slots would bring in. On the other hand, New Hampshire has neither a general sales tax nor a personal income tax, and no plans to create either. The state needs to make more money somehow, but the “how” is uncertain.

Back to March 2009 Archive.