By a 44-to-28 vote, the House passes a bill to put a constitutional amendment before voters that would allow a privately run casino in the state. The measure now heads to the Senate.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 26, 2006

BY KATHERINE GREGG and SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE -- After nearly five hours of debate about gambling, corruption and Donald Trump's topsy-turvy financial life, the House last night voted to give the Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment a shot -- along with the Narragansett Indians -- at an exclusive, no-bid casino license in Rhode Island.

The legislation now headed to the Senate calls for a statewide vote in November on changing the state Constitution to specifically allow a privately operated Harrah's-Narragansett Indian casino on non-Indian land in West Warwick, under terms to be negotiated after the vote.

Putting a proposal to change the state Constitution on the ballot requires an affirmative vote of a majority of the members elected to each chamber. So tension built as the sometimes heated debate droned into the night.

But in the end, House Speaker William J. Murphy scored a 44-to-28 victory for the nation's largest casino operating company, Harrah's Entertainment, the tribe and the $1-billion casino proposal for which the top officials in his hometown of West Warwick have been clamoring.

Said Matthew Thomas, chief sachem of the Narragansett Indian Tribe: "The General Assembly has taken the position that they feel their constituents need to decide this issue. They didn't play God and we appreciate that."

Added the happy sponsor, Rep. Timothy Williamson, D-West Warwick: "I feel very good, however, I know there is going to be a constitutional battle within the courts. I expect that and I'm not counting my chickens until they're hatched, until we get it on the ballot."

The bill will never cross the governor's desk; lawmakers have the sole power to place constitutional amendments on the ballot. But Governor Carcieri's office issued a statement: "This vote makes a mockery of the legislative process. Instead of studying the consequences of what they were going to vote on, the House of Representatives today decided to vote now and ask questions later."

The latest casino plan calls for a 12-story, 500-room hotel and a 140,000-square-foot casino with 3,500 slot machines, 100 table games and -- new this year -- 50 poker tables.

Proponents say the casino will bring 3,800 new jobs paying an average salary of $36,000 a year and millions of dollars in gambling taxes.

Much of the debate centered on Rep. Stephen Ucci's attempt to keep the door ajar for Trump's proposal to build a casino in his hometown of Johnston, which failed on a 46-to-26 vote.

His amendment would have allowed Trump Entertainment Resorts to compete with Harrah's -- and any other bidders -- for what would be Rhode Island's first-and-only license to operate a full-fledged casino with slots, craps and blackjack tables.

"I think we can do better," said Ucci, D-Johnston. "I don't think we should shortchange the citizens of Rhode Island by allowing this to go forward without knowing how much money we are getting."

By way of comparison, the state gets close to 60 cents of every dollar from its two hugely successful slot parlors that last year generated $245 million for the state, compared with the $205 million Connecticut derived from the Foxwoods casino and the $213 million it got from the Mohegan Sun.

Two years ago, Harrah's offered to pay the state $100 million for the exclusive Rhode Island license and a tax rate ranging from 25 cents to 40 cents of each gambling dollar. But key lawmakers have been insistent: there is no current deal; that comes later.

In other words, said Rep. Joseph Trillo, R-Warwick, of this vote first, negotiate later, approach: "We are giving them a contract and we are telling them, you know what guys? Fill in the numbers whatever you want because you already have the contract."

Said Trillo: "Don't tell me it's not a back-room deal, because it smells very bad. You can close the doors, but the smell still comes out." If you vote against competitive bidding, "you have really sold your constituents down the river."

Rep. Joseph Voccola, D-Johnston, mockingly "congratulated" Williamson -- for convincing the majority it has no worry at all concerning the illegality of what may take place."

As a paid West Warwick employee, Voccola suggested Williamson potentially faces the same ethics quagmire that led House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox to pay a $10,000 fine for voting on legislation benefiting GTECH, wich assured a legal contract for his employer.

Voccola said Williamson should also be "congratulated" for lulling his colleagues into voting for what he called "the largest duping of the largest magnitude that, I think, will ever take place in the state of Rhode Island."

He later apologized.

In an effort to put Harrah's last offer in context, Rep. Rene Menard, D-Lincoln, cited the $520 million the company offered for a riverboat license in Illinois two years ago and its pending bids for new gambling licenses in Pennsylvania, where the tax rate was pre-set by lawmakers at 53 percent.

"It's just amazing to me," said Menard, "that this corporation would [compete] in every other state, every other country, but yet in Rhode Island, we can't."

But House Finance Chairman Steven M. Costantino told his colleagues it was better to pose the ballot question without any tax rates attached to it. "What's good about this is we are not constrained by any numbers," he said, because "if anything, that restricts our leverage."

He also dismissed as irrelevant Harrah's bids in other states. "Well, let's look at Illinois," he said. "I'd like to know where the casino is in Illinois. They outbid themselves to a point where it made no sense." And of Harrah's bid for licenses at the Chester Downs track outside Philadelphia and Station Square in Pittsburgh: "They're racinos. They're convenience."

Added Rep. Charlene Lima, D-Cranston: "If Harrah's thinks they are going to use their exclusive partnership with the Narragansetts to broker a better deal for themselves, they better think again because . . . we will be looking for other gaming partners if the deal is not good enough."

At that point, "What kind of bargaining power is the state of Rhode Island going to have?" asked Rep. Nicholas Gorham, R-Coventry. Harrah's will simply tell the state: "We know how badly you need the money." And then, "I guess we'll take whatever Harrah's gives us. . . . It stinks. It stinks a lot more than the landfill."

But Williamson warned against being taken in by celebrity real-estate mogul Donald Trump: "This company is in trouble. It's highly leveraged. It doesn't have the money."

He said any other credible casino operator could have come to Smith Hill and made its case. "The question is this: Who prevented any company from coming into this state and delivering that package to this General Assembly? Which company was denied access? None." Along the way, Gorham proposed other failed amendments. One sought to ensure that the promised "property tax relief" is "paid directly to the property taxpayers." While the legislation talks about property-tax relief, it does not say what that means. Trillo said: "It's a joke and everybody in this room knows it's a joke."

Another sought to attach voter-initiative -- whereby any citizen or group, with enough signatures on a petition, can put an issue on the ballot.

Gorham also tried to convince his colleagues to ban themselves from personally benefiting -- via jobs and contracts -- from the new casino and its vendors until they have been out of office five years. Republican Bruce Long of Middletown talked about the "nexus between gambling, corruption and unfortunately, sometimes politicians."

Rep. James F. Davey, R-Cranston, said the ban would reassure a worried public its lawmakers have nothing personal to gain. But it too went down: 44-to-25.

Before the final vote, Rep. William San Bento Jr., D-Pawtucket, said he is not worried about the impact a casino would have on Rhode Island's slot parlors.

"Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are 8 miles apart and neither of them are going broke," San Bento said. "I think the more competition, the better." However, Rep. John J. Loughlin II, R-Tiverton, said the casino will "suck the economic and cultural life out of Providence."

"We're going to end the renaissance tonight," Loughlin said.

With every vote counting, part of yesterday's debate centered around whether House Deputy Whip Paul E. Moura should or should not participate.

Moura was elected to represent people in Providence's Fox Point neighborhood. But in September he purchased a house in East Providence because, he said, his Fox Point townhouse no longer met the special needs of his young daughter, who suffered a serious brain injury at birth.

Earlier this week, Moura -- who has not yet decided whether he will seek office from his new home city -- registered to vote in East Providence to keep his options open. But questions swirled through the State House about his eligibility to continue to serve in the House.

"At this point, there appears to be some question as to the appropriateness of me continuing to serve," Moura said. "I think there is a grey area." He nonetheless took his seat yesterday and voted.

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