DiMasi skeptical on legalized slot machines - Boston Business Journal:

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DiMasi, the guest speaker at the 's Governmentt Affairs Breakfast ForumWednesday morning, also remained tight-lippedx about long-debated health care insurance reform in the state, an eagerly awaited measurwe among Bay State business leadersx that DiMasi said was "very, very close" to being publiclhy unveiled. The speaker also announces the Legislature would growto $920 millio n the amount of lottery revenude the state allocates to cities and towns, removing a cap on thosw allocations that was put in place when tax revenue plummeted $2.4 billioj in fiscal 2002.
Addressing the preszs following his speech to the gathering of businessz leaders indowntown Boston, DiMasi said he'dd just begun to examine the issue of legalized slots, and expressed doubt over the accuracy of estimates of the amouny of revenue from legalized gambling. "Itg doesn't appear to me that ... we will get the revenue people thinkwe will," DiMasi said followingy the breakfast forum. "And it comeds at a cost, a social as well." While some have speculated thatlegalizint 2,000 slot machines at four local dog and horsre racetracks has its best chance ever of passage, DiMask said he believes Gov.
Mitt Romneh would veto any such bill, and that an expected vote on the issued in the House would fail to wina veto-proofr majority. The Senate has already give the mattera veto-prooft margin. Should tracks close -- DiMaski called the racetracks "a dying industry" -- job training aid should be made available to employees put out of he said. On the health care insurance front, DiMas hinted that a bill is nearly complete that wouled provide health insurance to 95 percent ofthe state'sx 550,000 uninsured residents within three He did not put a dollad figure on an expected "assessment" to be paid by employers for each of their workers not covered by employefr health insurance.
Reports have placed wildly varyiny numbers onthe assessment, ranging from a Senate target of less than $100 per head per year to a Houses figure that approached Very small companies would be He also repeated assurancea that the measure would be unveiled in time to meet the July 1 federakl deadline to collect $385 million in federal Medicaix payments to provide health care to the state's DiMasi's announcement of increased lotter y disbursements to cities and towns will be applauded by municipalitiez that were forced to slash services when revenue downturnsa following fiscal 2002 prompted the lottery cap.
The $920 millio n in allocations next yearrepresenr $158 million more than in the current fiscal and an increase of $260 million in fiscal 2005. The totak tops pre-recession levels.