Rhode Island Says No to Harrah’s Casino Scheme

In all, Harrah’s spent about $12 million trying to convince 700,000 registered voters their plan to bring a casino to the town of West Warwick was a wise and well thought out proposal. Unfortunately even spending what amounted to $90 a vote was simply not good enough.

Instead, roughly 63 percent voted against the idea of amending the Constitution to give Harrah’s the right to operate the only non government run casino in the state. Even those in town in West Warwick were hard press to approve the proposal, passing the notion by just 146 votes out of more than 10,000 total votes cast.

Harrah’s Entertainment issued a statement late on the evening of November 7 expressing their disappointment at the rejection of the proposed $1 billion ultra modern casino resort complex. The state would have also received a $100 million licensing fee. The resort would have included a 500 room hotel tower, 140,000-square-foot casino featuring 3,500 slot machines, 100 table games and 50 poker tables.

“We at Harrah’s Entertainment were privileged to have the opportunity to set forth a vision for a destination resort here in Rhode Island in partnership with the Narragansett Tribe, the town of West Warwick, the building trades, minority groups and supporters throughout Ocean State. While we of course regret that we will not be able to realize that vision, we respect the result of the vote and the will of Rhode Islanders.

We thank our partners for the energy and passion they displayed in putting the real issues – job creation, tax relief and economic development -- before the voters. We thank our talented team of campaign staffers, who worked tirelessly to spread the word of this project’s enormous potential. And we thank the people of Rhode Island for their careful attention and consideration as we made our case in a variety of forums over the course of the past several months,” said the statement.

The main problem for voters, as well as Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri -- who was also reelected -- was many thought this particular plan to be ill conceived. The state is not actually opposed to gaming and already operates more than 4,500 slot machines at two existing slot facilities -- the Newport Grand and Lincoln Park.

The crux of this particular issue was there was nothing in the referendum setting a guaranteed tax percentage that state would receive. While the Indian tribe will get a minimum 5% of casino revenue, the state government would only forge a deal with the Narragansetts and Harrah’s after the bill had been passed; a troubling proposition for some state lawmakers and residents.

Currently Rhode Island rakes in about 60% of existing slot parlor income, which is considered a much higher percentage than any Harrah’s -Narragansett deal would have brought the state.

"I think [the voters] spoke overwhelming and I think they've been saying this for a number of years. I just think the General Assembly hasn't been listening," former Republican Gov. Lincoln C. Almond, who led the anti-casino effort, told the Providence Journal.

Additionally, Narragansett Indian tribe Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas told supporters “it was a tough thing to try to amend the Constitution. Don't be ashamed and don't shed any tears," he told a crowd gathered in West Warwick after the results were made public.

In 1994, voters also rejected a casino plan which would have seen the Narragansett Indians build a casino in West Greenwich. That proposal lost when 54 percent of the voters rejected it.


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