Harrah’s, tribe target Connecticut casinos

Michael Mello

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004 | 10:37 a.m.

WEST WARWICK, R.I. -- The Narragansett Indian Tribe on Wednesday released plans for a resort casino it says would create thousands of jobs and generate more than $100 million in annual revenue for the state.

The proposed $450 million casino in West Warwick would have 3,500 gambling stations, entertainment and a 500-room hotel. It would be developed by Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and needs statewide voter approval, which proponents hope to get in November.

This is the fifth year the Narragansetts have lobbied to build a casino in West Warwick, just about 50 miles from two of the world's largest Indian casinos in southeast Connecticut. The Narragansett tribe has so far failed to persuade the General Assembly to allow voters to decide on a casino in a referendum.

The tribe and its partner are eager to collect some of the more than $1 billion one recent study says Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents combined spend annually at Connecticut's Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort casinos. A study released last month by the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis estimated Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents spent $829 million and $301 million respectively last year at the two Connecticut casinos.

"How can anybody watch a billion dollars a year drive right by this location and go into Connecticut and fund their schools, their state services, their programming?" asked Jan Jones, a Harrah's vice president and the former mayor of Las Vegas.

State Rep. Tim Williamson, D-West Warwick, will introduce a bill this week to ask voters whether they support the tribe's proposed West Warwick casino. The tribe says 6,700 jobs would be created within three years, nearly half of which would be at the casino.

The tribe last year supported a bill that did not name a specific casino project. That proposal died in the legislature.

Williamson said naming the tribe's project on the ballot will ensure "that everyone who votes will know where the casino would be."

Jones said the tribe could expect about $15 million to $20 million a year from the casino.

Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas said the tribe's current $6 million annual budget falls far short of meeting the health, education and economic needs of its members.

"We are looking to try to get a change of life, give our people hope," he said.

The casino proposal comes as state lawmakers prepare to wrestle with a looming budget deficit estimated at $190 million.

Gov. Don Carcieri opposes the development of a casino, as do owners of Lincoln Park, which has video-lottery gambling and which is being purchased by MGM MIRAGE of Las Vegas.

"We are already too dependent on gambling revenue," Carcieri said Tuesday in his State of the State address. "If we continue, we will soon be owned by them."

He said the state now collects about $220 million annually from Lincoln Park and Newport Grand, which also has video slots.

The state's 60-percent share of the gambling profits from those two facilities is more than twice the 25 percent the tribe proposes to give the state.

Lincoln Park says a casino operator should be forced to pay the same percentage to the state it does. The park's operators are also concerned about losing business to a casino, which would lead to a decline in the park's annual payment to the state.

Rep. Paul Crowley said the Lincoln and Newport gambling halls would be hurt by paying a higher percentage to the state than a casino operator, along with possibly losing customers.

"The main issue is the tax rate," the Newport Democrat said. "Why put someone in business in a different standing than two other partners who have contributed at a higher level for years? This is a bad deal."

Jones, however, claims most of the casino's business would come from gamblers now going to Connecticut, and in the long run wouldn't hurt the two existing gambling halls.

The Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association also opposes the casino proposal, claiming it would compete with the state's hotels, restaurants and convention facilities.

Williamson believes he has enough supporters in the House to override any veto by the governor. Sen. Stephen Alves, D-West Warwick, said there are enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill, though he's not sure of overriding a likely veto.