State legislators may attempt to pass a casino bill by veto-proof margins if no deal is reached in advance with Gov. Deval Patrick.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo is shown speaking in Holyoke earlier this year.BOSTON – House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said on Monday that a bill to legalize casinos could be taken up by legislators in July pending the outcome of talks with Gov. Deval L. Patrick.
"That is my desire," DeLeo said when asked if a casino bill could be approved in July. "I think that is maybe all of our desires but the proof will be once we get to talk about the details whether that is going to happen or not."
DeLeo met in a regular leadership meeting on Monday with Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray, but he said that they did not discuss casinos. The leaders have indicated that they have had few, if any, in depth discussions about casinos since a bill died last year.
DeLeo said he still has an agreement to talk about details of a casino bill with Patrick and Murray.
DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat, previously has said he wanted to delay a casino debate until passage of a state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. A six-member House-Senate panel is attempting to approve a compromise budget from the different versions approved in each legislative branch this spring.
Legislators held a public hearing on casino bills on May 4.
Patrick opposes slots for the tracks and effectively killed a casino bill last year because it authorized two slot licenses for racetracks. Patrick has said that casinos are not a high priority for him but that he would like to reach an agreement with DeLeo and Murray to avoid a drawn-out debate that takes attention from other issues.
Stanley RosenbergSen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, the Senate point man on casinos, said on Monday that state legislators could attempt to obtain two thirds votes for casinos in both branches, or enough to override a possible veto of a casino bill from Patrick. Those veto-proof votes might be needed if no deal can be reached with Patrick, he said.
On the other hand, he said, if Patrick, Murray and DeLeo can reach an agreement on casinos, then only simple majority votes in the House and the Senate would be needed to approve expanded gambling.
Rosenberg said the main issue that still needs to be resolved is whether or not to approve slot machines for race tracks. The top three leaders on Beacon Hill must decide whether to limit "slots in a box" to just tracks, or to allow them in other facilities, he said.
Rosenberg said that leaders seem to agree that any bill should include three casino resorts for the state.
