Update on Massachusetts from John Pappas
In the past 24 hours I have spoken with lobbyists and lawmakers in Massachusetts and they have expressed optimism that a deal on sports betting could still come together before the end of session (July 31).
There is a fair bit of posturing happening, which isn’t surprising given how far apart the House and Senate are on some big ticket items, but yesterday, the Senate President made some encouraging comments about compromise on at least one of those items, collegiate betting. You can see her comments here. The three casinos also sent a letter to legislature imploring them to take action. Their letter warns that the lack of sports betting is making the state’s casinos less competitive to its neighbors and they are losing workers as the state is losing tax revenues.
If this gets done it will be one of the last thing the legislature does before leaving for their July 31 recess. If a compromise develops I don’t expect we will see it come together until Friday/Saturday.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Regards,
John A. Pappas