House committee deals online gambling bill a losing hand
Apr. 26—CONCORD — The bid to legalize online gambling in support of scholarships for community college students was facing long odds Wednesday.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted, 20-0, recommending that the bill should die. It came a day after several representing charities had told the panel that legalizing online wagering by residents will siphon away millions that come to the nonprofits that benefit from gambling at 14 "charity casinos" across the state.
"We can revisit this in the future but we shouldn't jump in the deep end of the pool on big gaming," said state Rep. Fred Doucette, R-Salem, a member of the panel and House GOP leader.
The bill's prime author, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, said he has not given up on the idea in the future though he fully expects the House to kill his bill (SB 104) later this spring.
"This was the charitable gaming industry drumming up opposition to go and kill the bill," Lang said after the committee vote.
"I don't happen to agree with their analysis. I looked at the myriad of bills on this topic and concluded that all forms of legal wagering could thrive, but the House committee obviously didn't see it that way."
Lang had only managed to get the bill through the Senate on a 12-11 vote after drawing opposition from former Senate President Peter Bragdon, who lobbies for Churchill Downs that owns a charity casino in Salem.
State lottery officials said that after a three-year ramp up this would provide $18 million a year in tuition and fee scholarships to community college students from families that make up to $100,000 a year.
This presumed 35% of bets would go to these scholarships minus the state lottery costs to administer it.
The other 65% would cover the winnings of gamblers along with profits for "three-to-five" vendors the lottery estimates would gain approval to offer this option.
Advocates said the legislation would help the state deal with a chronic workforce shortage by making a two-year college education more affordable.
Critic: 'Only so much money to go around'
But several speaking for nonprofits Tuesday worried that letting people bet online on poker and other "table games" of chance would draw away customers who otherwise go to play these same games at the brick-and-mortar charity casinos.
Charities get 35% of profits after gambling winnings are given out.
Last year the locations generated $15 million in profits for charities.
Former Rep. John Graham, R-Bedford, said he belongs to three local non-profit groups that use charity gaming to supplement their budgets.
"I think there will be a dilution out of what charities are able to get out of brick and mortar if this goes forward," Graham said.
"There's only so much money to go around," he said.
CEO Randy Pierce with Future In Sight, formerly the New Hampshire Association for the Blind, said his nonprofit has seen a decline in charitable gaming revenue since the state legalized another form of gambling, historic racing that allows betters to bet on machines that show randomly-selected horse races.
The historic racing law requires the charity casinos that allow this new gambling to split the profits differently among charities, Pierce said.
"If this bill passes, what amount will it reduce? It's speculative but even if the best of the scenarios, if it's 20% can we cope with a 20% drop?" Pierce asked rhetorically.
Bill Dunlap for the New Hampshire Historical Society told the panel his group gets 25% of its $300,000 annual budget from charity gaming.
If approved, New Hampshire would join six states that have legalized this gaming, Connecticut most recently in 2022.
Lang noted the Senate already embraced a separate bill to permit a big bump in wagering at these charity casinos.
The second bill (SB 120) also pending in the House will increase the legal betting limit at charity casino events from $10 to $50.
The current cost to buy into a charity casino tournament is $150 and this bill would raise that limit up to $2,500.
The House Ways and Means panel did endorse a third bill (SB 51) Wednesday that Lang also authored to create a $250,000 study of the charity casinos and historic racing in New Hampshire.
