Casino

NEWPORT — State legislators will come to town tomorrow to hear what area residents have to say about a proposal to expand gambling to 24 hours a day at the state’s two licensed facilities — Newport Grand and Twin River.

Members of the House Finance Committee will hold hearings on two bills related to around-the-clock gambling at 4 p.m. at Colony House, on Washington Square.

One would require Newport Grand and Twin River, in Lincoln, to stay open 24 hours a day, with the state’s share of the additional revenues going to the general fund. It is sponsored by Rep. William San Bento Jr., D-Pawtucket, North Providence, who is chairman of the permanent joint committee overseeing gambling and a member of the Finance Committee.

The other legislation would define 24-hour gambling as an “expansion of gambling,” subject to statewide and local referenda. Not only would voters statewide have to approve the idea, but so would the communities where the two gambling halls are located. This bill is sponsored by Rep. J. Russell Jackson, D-Newport, Middletown, and has the support of the Newport City Council.

According to a House news release, the hearing is part of a program “to bring government closer to Rhode Islanders by holding committee meetings in locations around the state.” The concept, it says, was initiated by Speaker William J. Murphy and began last year. This would be the first such hearing of the 2008 legislative season.

But the hearing also appears connected to a demonstration that had been slated for Murphy’s annual Christmas party by Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling. The advocacy group planned to protest any expansion of gambling hours or formats outside the December party at the Hotel Viking, in Newport.

When Murphy learned about it, he called the group’s leader, the Rev. Gene McKenna, to express his concerns, according to an account related by group member Burt Hoffman, of Newport. Father McKenna explained that Murphy had not responded to his group’s request for a meeting and that its members felt they had been treated rudely in the past by House members.

Murphy, according to Hoffman, ultimately told McKenna that if the demonstration was called off, the House would hold a hearing in Newport on any initiatives related to expanded gambling. The group accepted the offer, Hoffman said. Aquidneck Island residents, he noted, sometimes have difficulty making it to the State House, in Providence, for such hearings.

Murphy has confirmed the arrangement he worked out with the citizens group.

The regular session of the House will be canceled tomorrow to accommodate the meeting.

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