R.I. slot parlors join anti-casino fight

PROVIDENCE -- Silent throughout the months of legislative hearings and debate over changing the state Constitution to allow the proposed Harrah's-Narragansett Indian casino, Lincoln Park and Newport Grand stepped forward yesterday as major backers of the opposition effort.

The two established gambling venues have made an "initial investment of $1 million" in the campaign by the coalition -- known as Save Our State -- that is leading the fight against the proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 7 state ballot.

The announcement came hours before Channel 12 (WPRI) aired the results of a poll suggesting that supporters of the constitutional amendment outnumber opponents, 49 to 43 percent, with 8 percent undecided. The telephone survey of 401 likely voters was conducted between Aug. 16 and Aug. 21 by Fleming & Associates.

Among the other findings: men are measurably more keen on the casino proposal than women, and the margin of support from all voters would increase to 53 percent over 36 percent if the proposal did not entail changing the state Constitution.

The findings highlight the odds and difficulties for the floundering opposition group that lost its first chairman, retired business executive Richard Oster, over differences of philosophy, and then relaunched with former Gov. Lincoln Almond at the helm.

"We welcome Lincoln Park and Newport Grand with open arms," said Almond yesterday. "We need the support of these two institutions and many more businesses in Rhode Island who need to protect themselves from the attrition of jobs and revenue that would be caused by Harrah's."

Harrah's spent close to $2.7 million last month alone on TV, radio and newspaper advertising and the hiring of 50-plus staffers to promote the proposed Harrah's-Narragansett casino in a privately owned West Warwick industrial park. August spending reports are not due for another week and Clare Eckert, the spokeswoman for the Harrah's-financed Rhode Islanders for Jobs & Tax Relief said it made "no sense" to her to disclose the spending numbers before they have to be filed.

"Harrah's is a behemoth," said Almond. "They purchased $2 million in advertising just last month alone. We need and are grateful for the support of Newport Grand and Lincoln Park so that we can effectively educate Rhode Islanders about what a bad deal this casino is for our beloved state."

Lincoln Park and Newport Grand enter the fray with many of the same arguments they raised in years past about the inequity -- and threat to state revenue collections -- of allowing the casino to pay the state less than half the percentage they are required to pay from their slot operations.

Lawmakers have not agreed to financial terms with Harrah's, so there are no tax or fee commitments attached to the proposal headed to the ballot despite the oft-heard promise of "property-tax relief."

In past years, however, Harrah's offered to pay the state a tiered tax rate starting at 25 percent of the West Warwick casino revenue.

By way of comparison, the state gets close to 60 cents of every dollar from the slot parlors in Lincoln and Newport, which last year generated $245 million for the state treasury. In Connecticut, the state received $205 million from Foxwoods Resort Casino last year and $213 million from Mohegan Sun.

"If voters accept this deal, Harrah's will pay far less in taxes to the state than we currently pay... giving them a significant unfair advantage," Craig Sculos, vice president and general manager of Lincoln Park, said yesterday.

Added Newport Grand chief executive officer Diane S. Hurley: "Rhode Island taxpayers cannot allow Harrah's to put Newport Grand and Lincoln Park out of business. The state will not be able to make up the revenue generated by Lincoln Park and Newport Grand who pay 60-percent tax, with the 25-percent tax Harrah's is offering -- the numbers just don't add up."

Hurley said voters should also be very wary of the "secrecy" surrounding Harrah's potential deal with the state, which key lawmakers -- including House Finance Chairman Stephen Costantino -- insist has not yet been negotiated.

"When Lincoln Park and Newport Grand negotiated for expansion plans last year, the process was fully vetted by the General Assembly and Rhode Island public. Harrah's plans, to date, have remained a secret," Hurley said.

Asked why Newport Grand remained silent through this year's legislative debate on sending the proposal to voters, spokeswoman Amy Kemp said: "All signs were pointing it would be on the ballot. We felt our efforts would be best spent to defeat it on the ballot." Lincoln Park's owners did not respond to the same query.

Responding to yesterday's announcement that the owners of Lincoln Park and Newport Grand have publicly reentered the fray, the Narragansetts' chief sachem, Matthew Thomas, wryly said he was "shocked out of my shoes."

"We didn't expect everybody to just say we love you and see you on Election Day. We knew that we were going to have some opposition. So that's there and we've just got to do our best to get our message out for the people to make an educated decision," Thomas said in an interview.

Thomas also seized the moment to needle Almond: "If he's so opposed to gaming why use their money to oppose it? That's typical Rhode Island, you know, but... that's the way it goes. We'll do what we believe is necessary to get our message out."

Thomas took a harsher tone in a late-day statement issued by Eckert in which he said: "Today's announcement proves that his group is really just a front for other casino companies, and their real motto is 'Save Our Slots.' Their only interest is their own self-interest."