A breakdown of Question 3 on the upcoming ballot
By Colin Daly
Comment Contributor
The Nov. 4 elections are coming up, and there are a few questions that Massachusetts citizens need to vote yes or no on. One of them is Question 3, which asks whether or not casinos, compliments of MGM in Springfield, Plainridge Park in Plainville, and Wynn Resorts in Everett, should be built in our State.
These would be the first casinos in Massachusetts state history.
In 2011, Deval Patrick signed the Expanded Gaming Act, which allowed casinos to begin operation in Massachusetts. However, in June of this year, a petition was established and over 26 thousand people signed it. Because the petition had so many signatures, the request to abolish the legislation Patrick had signed allowing casinos to start constructing in state was now to be put on the Nov. ballot.
First of all, the wording of Question 3 is questionable at best. If you are voting Yes on Question 3, that means you would like to abolish the law passed by Patrick in 2011. Therefore, you are saying “Yes I would like to not have casinos in my state.”
Quite the opposite, if you were to vote No, you are agreeing with the law and you would like to have casinos in Massachusetts. Consequently, you are saying, “No, don’t want to abolish Deval Patrick’s law! I want some casinos in my state!”
It’s awesome that you are thinking of voting, and you should vote because this crap is important! But, you gotta know what the most important part is: how will this impact your life? Read on to find out.
There are a handful of positives to having a casino in our state. The construction of the casinos, as well as the workers that are required to maintain it, do security, collect money, serve drinks, and so forth, are forecasted to create over 15,000 jobs.
The state receives 25% of each casino’s revenue, and 49% of the each slot parlor’s revenue. That money is then put back into our cities and towns, schools and roads maybe some dope cop cars or more all glass judicial buildings that defendants don’t show up to.
However, there are also many negatives to having casinos in our state. There is absolutely no doubt that drunk driving rates are going to increase in Plainville, Everett, and especially Springfield.
The traffic on 495, the Mass Pike, 95, Route 2, and so on will probably double on the weekends and holidays. I dont know what Plainville or Everett looks like, but it sounds like they’re some small towns, so a bunch of out-of-state people in my backyard would probably piss me off.
I just researched all this important information in the middle of my midterms and papers just so you could get educated. Get out there and vote. Do you want a casino in your backyard? Then go out there and make sure it happens(or doesn’t)!
Colin Daly is a Comment Contributor. You can follow him on Twitter at @ColinDaly7793.
