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Casino critics testify at Portsmouth hearing

CONCORD, New Hampshire – As reported by the Portsmouth Herald Local News: " Several Seacoast lawmakers and business leaders gave emphatic testimony Tuesday against a bill to allow casinos in Berlin and at the Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth.

"Senate Bill 225 would also permit video gambling machines at half a dozen large hotels in Coos County and at the state's four racetracks, including the greyhound track in Seabrook. Selectmen or city councilors would need approval from local voters at an election before a casino or video gambling would be legal in their communities.

"State Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, said Pease is a superb incubator of high-tech companies and a national model for turning a military base into a private economic engine.

"…The Senate committee suspended the bill hearing until next week before Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand could speak. He submitted written testimony that a casino would threaten the quality of life in Portsmouth and the success of a thriving, world class industrial park at Pease that employs 6,400 workers in 220 companies with an annual payroll of $351 million and sustains 10,000 spin-off jobs in the region…"

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