If slots/casinos are approved, there should be open bids & no sweetheart deals

I am an agnostic when it comes to whether slots and casinos should come to NH. I'd rather we not have it, but I can understand that the revenue it might produce would be helpful.

My concern is that almost all of the "pro" discussion is being led by people who want it to be approved for their property or locality. "Let's have it at Rockingham Park in Salem." "Let's have it at all the tracks." "Let's have it at my hotel in the north country."

The State of NH should not pass a law giving the right to operate slots, racino, or casino to any named group, location, or owner. Doing so would give a huge $100+ windfall to identifiable persons.

If the decision is made to proceed, the State should do the following:

1) Establish the maximum number of slots and the number of locations/franchises where expanded gambling will be permitted. Establish a guaranteed period for each franchise (perhaps 12-15 years).

2) Request bids for the right to operate expanded gambling under the law.

3) Bids must indicate where the bidder would operate. The bidder would also make two financial propoals (1), a fixed amount to be paid to the State upfront to purchase the proposed franchise and (2) guaranteed amount of revenue to be paid to the State for each year of the franchise before it is put out to bid again.

4) Require all bidders to have bonds for the full amount of the guaranteed future payments.

5) The State decides which bidders win franchises based on what is in the State's best financial interest - i.e., selects the high bidders.

Our Governor and Council regularly want bids on contracts of a few thousand dollars. The same principle should be applied here. No sole source sweetheart deals.

Further, this process will guarantee the state known revenue for future years, not guesses (or likely inflated estimates meant to attract votes in the legislature). The revenue in each proposal must be guaranteed by bonding. The legislature then knows how much it can count on in future budgets. (Just like the tobacco lawsuit settlement money the state now gets). If Massachusetts were to adopt casino gambling it would NOT affect NH's take as its take would be guaranteed through the franchise period.

I am very afraid that the current debate is only about "whether" and no one is thinking about how to do it best if a decision is made to proceed. Giving unbid sweetheart deals to organizations in the gambling/gaming industry makes me shudder. The potential annual take for those organizations is in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The amount of political corruption that might ensure worries me a great deal and should worry anyone who understands how little of that we have had in this state.