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Rhode Island Casino Deal Unique

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – As reported by the Providence Journal: "Extraordinary. Unique. Unheard of in the gambling industry.

"Unprecedented in Rhode Island.

"All those words have been used in recent days to describe the eleventh-hour commitment Rhode Island lawmakers made, during a special session last week, to have the state indemnify the new owners of Lincoln Park against revenue losses to the proposed Harrah's casino.

"The promise was made amid suggestions by some lawmakers that Harrah's -- not the state -- would pick up the tab.

"But Jan Jones, the former Las Vegas mayor who has been the face of Harrah's in Rhode Island, says don't count on it.

"…Her statement added one more layer of uncertainty to the potential ramifications of a legislative deal, forged in closed-door negotiations, that kept changing right up until the moment it was handed to state lawmakers for a vote last Friday night.

"One reworked feature of the legislation was a complicated formula for providing BLB with 'slippage protection'

"…An analysis provided by House Fiscal Adviser Michael O'Keefe yesterday indicates the state could end up paying BLB out of its own share of the track revenue anywhere from $55.3 million, if the losses are modest, to $282.2 million over eight years if the initial losses to the casino are more severe.

"…So how did this last-minute provision get into the legislation?

"BLB spokesman Michael Doyle gives the credit to House Finance Chairman Steven M. Costantino, the Providence Democrat whose family runs Venda Ravioli…"

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