Casino fever -- You're either for it or against it

Vermont Business Magazine, Feb 1995 by Bell, Mary Day

And the question debated in the state-house and in Chambers of Commerce, Rotary breakfasts, public meetings and private living rooms across the state is whether legalized casino gambling could provide jobs and tax dollars without forever changing the benign, family-centered character of Vermont.

Summing up

Legalized gambling is fast becoming the next "either you're for it or against it" issue in Vermont.

* Legislators this year will consider at least two bills to legalize casino gambling at the site of the old Green Mountain Race Track in Pownal. The lure is over 1,000 jobs to a desperate area in the state's southwest corner, and over $10,000 million a year in tax revenues, which would go to both the state and local government. The people of Pownal want it.

* If that weren't enticement enough, the Las Vegas developer also has promised $10 million up front to the state and has hired some of the top lobbyists in Montpelier to make his case. He even has former Speaker of the House Ralph Wright in his corner.

* On the other side is Governor Dean and Attorney General Amestoy, who see this only as a lose-lose situation. They maintain that the economic benefits will be negligible, if at all, and that it will bring a tidal wave of gaming to the state that would forever change what makes Vermont Vermont.

* The chances of passing such a bill are low at this moment, but what will lawmakers think in May if the state's fiscal situation is a shambles?

Mary Day Bell of Pownal is a writer and editor for The Advocate of Williamstown, MA, and a freelance writer.