In an effort to keep their jobs, hundreds of racetrack and racing industry workers flooded the State House on Wednesday to testify at a public hearing, imploring the Legislature to pass proposed bills that would allow Massachusetts race-goers to bet on horse and dog races around the world and would increase prize money on the animals.
Supporters also said allowing slot machines at racetracks is essential to keeping the Massachusetts racing industry alive and could save as many as 4,000 jobs and bring in more than $500 million of tax revenue to the state.
“This is all about jobs, jobs, jobs,” Rep. David Flynn (D-Bridgewater) said.
According to Flynn, if Massachusetts does not renew the bill allowing worldwide betting, or simulcasting, and pass a separate bill allowing slot machines on its racetracks, the racing industry would lose business to nearby states, eliminating thousands of jobs.
“People need those jobs and need them badly,” Flynn said, evoking the first of the afternoon’s many enthusiastic rounds of applause.
Rep. Brian Wallace (D-Boston) said lawmakers should worry less about animals and more about workers and their families.
“Last time I checked, there were no dogs at Wonderland worried about paying their mortgage,” Wallace said.
Many opponents to simulcasting and the addition of slot machines to racetracks are concerned about the potential negative social effects of gambling, Gov. Mitt Romney among them. The Boston Globe reported that the measure was heading for rejection in the Legislature.
But Mayor Edward Clancy of Lynn said questions about the morality of gambling disappeared years ago when the state lottery was implemented.
Other speakers testifying cited the popularity of the gambling game Keno to point out the flaws in the anti-gambling argument.
Louis Ciarlone, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who represents more than 200 workers at Suffolk Downs, called people who approve of Keno but oppose gambling hypocritical.
Before and after the hearing, about 400 supporters, many of whom were racetrack workers, traveled into Boston together from local tracks and demonstrated outside the State House. They wore shirts and carried signs that read “Why not Mass.?” and “Save our jobs!”
Many people came to the hearing also to advocate legislation allowing the construction of casinos in Massachusetts, saying it would create new jobs and bring in tax revenue for the state that could fund public education and help lower income tax rates.
“When I look at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, when I see what they’re making and how it affects their taxes, and then I see how all the cars down there are from Massachusetts, I think, ‘Why can’t we have that here?'” said Joe Deegan, a Boston resident who testified at the hearing. “Why can’t we get the revenue and the jobs?”