Casino Bill was Defeated by Large Margin, 199-164 [Updated and Bumped]

From Spec Bowers…

Casino bill was defeated by large margin, 199-164. I thought it would be close.

I thought it would be closer as well but gambling is one of those issues that has broad bi-partisan opposition.    There are factions on the left that are hard core progressive wellsprings that oppose gambling as if they actually had morals or something.  And I think Hassan over-reached when she presented a budget as if the gambling money was a given.

Bad idea.   I think that turned the Democrats who might have considered easing into it on the other side of a fence they were too pissed off to cross.

And let us face facts. Gambling is just not a good fit for the Granite state given the dynamics of the region, it has not delivered on its promises in the Northeast, and in the end it is a crutch for growing government on more false promises.

Update: According to Jim Rubens from the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling, after the Casino vote there was a motion to reconsider.  That motion failed 212-155.

Jim’s email on the jump

Thanks to your phone calls, emails, and supermarket conversations, we won.

After two hours of compelling debate, some of which was so moving that it silenced the chambers, the House voted 199 to 164 to kill SB152, the casino bill backed by the Governor and previously passed by the Senate. On the reconsideration vote, a more accurate picture of House opposition, we won by a crushing 212 to 155 margin.

Notwithstanding the most intense lobbying and arm twisting ever for a New Hampshire casino bill, our margin of victory today was better than our 42-vote win in 2012, when Governor Lynch had promised to veto ANY casino bill.

Here are three things you can do now:

Please thank House members who voted “Yea” to support the House joint committee recommendation to kill the casino bill. Here is the House roll call vote record.

Email Governor Hassan. Urge her to develop a truly innovative plan for a state budget that meets priority needs and moves New Hampshire’s economy forward without casinos.

And, please make the largest contribution you can to help us pay the bills we have accumulated to secure this victory today.

• By credit card or Paypal
• By mail:

Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling
PO Box 3931, Concord
NH 03302-3931

Heartfelt thanks to all of you who helped make this victory possible.
Jim Rubens
Chair

Jim provided a link to the Roll Call, But I’ve posted it here.