Politics & Government

Bills Submitted to Put Tiverton Casino on Ballot

House and Senate leaders submitted bills to authorize the planned move of Newport Grand to Tiverton and put questions on the ballot.

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TIVERTON, RI—The plan to move Newport Grand to Tiverton and expand its operations into a full-fledged casino rolled forward this week after companion enabling bills were introduced at the Rhode Island State House.

The House version of the bill was submitted Tuesday by House Majority John J. DeSimone and Senate Majority White Maryellen Goodwin.

The Senate bill was sponsored by by Sen. Walter S. Felag Jr. (D-Dist. 10, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton), Sen. Ryan W. Pearson (D-Dist. 19, Cumberland, Lincoln) and Sen. John A. Pagliarini Jr. (R-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol, Tiverton).

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The Tiverton Town Council voted 6-1 in November to ask the General Assembly to pass the enabling legislation.

That vote came after months of meetings and presentations by Twin River Management Group, which bought Newport Grand last year from former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino Jr., who bought it from its longtime owners less than a year earlier in the hopes of getting table games approval from Newport voters but failed in 2014.

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The town is being promised a minimum of $3 million annually from slots and table games revenue sharing. The company said the overall investment into the project will be $75 million, 525 to 600 jobs will be created with the 150 existing Newport Grand employees offered positions.

There is little doubt that the general assembly will swiftly put the question on the ballot. In prepared remarks, both Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattielo and Speaker of the House Teresa Paiva Weed voiced their support.

If passed, the legislation would put a ballot question on the November ballot asking for voters to approve the gaming facility. Both statewide and Tiverton voters must approve for the measure to pass, which means that Tiverton ultimately has final say. Even if a majority of voters in Rhode Island approve the measure, a rejection in Tiverton means no casino.

The state is anticipating 15.5 percent of revenues from table games and 61 percent of slot revenues from the new casino. Those figures would apply to Twin River’s original location in Lincoln, as well.

Tiverton would get 1 percent of table games and 1.45 percent of VLT revenue.

The bill guarantees at least $3 million each for Tiverton and Lincoln.

“Protecting the host community’s share is especially important because even though that amount is much smaller than the state’s, it makes a very significant impact to a town budget. The host towns have to be able to count on that money, and this legislation ensures they can,” DeSimone said.

The legislation also transfers many of the responsibilities for oversight of gaming facilities’ operation from the Department of Business Regulation to the state Lottery Division.

We’ve covered the casino issue quite a bit over the last two years. Here’s a sprinkling of some of our coverage:

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