House panel endorses perks for charity casino operators, nonprofits
Nov. 9—CONCORD — New Hampshire nonprofits and casino operators both came up winners Thursday when a key House committee endorsed a charity gambling bill that would benefit both.
The measure (SB 112) would eliminate the "rent" charged to a charity by the casino on the days the charity is the beneficiary of the gaming.
A bigger payoff is headed the way of the state's charity casino operators, who would become the permanent, exclusive home for historic horse racing (HHR), the newest and by far most profitable form of gambling at these locations. The casinos have been seeking to protect their franchise against expansion of the lucrative HHR to other outlets.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved the bill on an 18-1 vote Thursday.
The measure goes before the full House early in the 2024 session.
Despite the lopsided committee vote, politics may still come into play.
Last spring lawmakers approved a bill (SB 51) to extend HHR machine exclusivity for the charitable gaming operators until June 2026.
But Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed that measure. The state Senate voted 22-1 to uphold the veto last month.
When the Legislature first made charitable gaming legal in the state, it let operators charge nonprofits rent to offset their costs when they held games of chance such as poker, blackjack, and roulette.
At that time, the maximum bet for a player was $2.
Sununu signed legislation (SB 120) last spring that raised the maximum bet from $10 to $50.
For those playing in big-money poker tournaments, players can now spend up to $2,500 per contest; this replaced a past spending limit of $150.
"I think we have grown past the point where we need to have the charities pay a rent for a facility that is profitable for all involved; we have outlived this survivability model," Doucette said.
Lottery head on board
State Lottery Executive Director Charles McIntyre endorsed the rent change during a meeting last Monday of the commission studying the future of charity casino gambling.
"Rent was constructed at a time when the rooms were struggling," McIntyre said.
"With historic horse racing trending towards generating $100 million a year, rent doesn't seem like it is needed anymore."
Former state Rep. Patrick Abrami of Stratham, chairman of the study commission, said the rents charged at these charity casinos were "all over the place," ranging from less than 10% to 50% of the total revenue that charities would otherwise get if they didn't have to pay the space.
"There is no consistency here at all, and I think this is why we need to spend more time on this," Abrami said.
There are currently 14 charity casinos in the state. As written, SB 112 would also permit any applicants in the pipeline seeking a charity gambling license to also get these HHR machines.
McIntyre said five companies have requested charity gambling licenses.
Citing privacy laws, McIntyre said he could not identify the companies or their proposed casino locations.
When the Legislature voted to legalize betting on HHR in 2021, it gave the charity casinos exclusive rights to the machines. Without further action, that moratorium would end next July 1.
Doucette said the state should avoid the proliferation of this form of gambling that would occur if all hospitality businesses could have these HHR machines.
"We could have historic horse racing on every strip mall on every corner of the state. I don't think anybody thinks that is a good idea," Doucette said.
When it comes to games of chance, charities get 35% of net gaming revenue from these bets and the operators get 65%.
The state takes 10% off the top of the gross that is bet to support aid to education.
HHR gambling provides much less profit to the charities.
They get 8.75% of gross revenue from these machines, the state gets 16.25%, and the operators get 75%.
State Rep. Richard Ames, D-Jaffrey, said it made sense for the Legislature to approve these changes, noting the commission in the fall of 2024 could decide to recommend a different financial model.
