Bob Haynes Written Testimony In Support of An Act Establishing and Regulating Resort-Style Entertainment in the Commonwealth

Robert J. Haynes, President, Massachusetts AFL-CIO
Testimony before the Joint Standing Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies
Thursday October 29, 2009 ~ 10 AM ~ Gardner Auditorium, State House

Thank you Chairman Dempsey, Chairwoman Spilka, and members of the Committee.

For the record my name is Robert Haynes and I am President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. I have the honor and privilege to head an organization that represents nearly 400,000 working families from over 750 local unions in the building and construction trades, public, and industrial and service sectors. I didn’t bring them all with me because I didn’t think there would be enough seats for all of us, but you can see how many people are here because they care so much about this issue.

In addition to our own members, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO strives daily to fight for and speak on behalf of the best interests of all working families in the Commonwealth. We are a “quality of life” organization. That is what I’d like to discuss with you here today.

Today I will try to be as brief as possible because I know there are many proponents of Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment who have come here to speak to you about the overwhelming merits of this kind of economic development.

I am here to testify in support of establishing Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I am specifically here to support House Bill 4068, which we have worked with Representatives Wallace and Walsh in filing, and with the lead Senate co-sponsors of this House Bill, Senators Menard and Morrissey. Nearly 40 legislators have co-sponsored this comprehensive piece of legislation, which we believe takes a thoughtful approach to creating a Destination Gaming and Entertainment industry here in the Commonwealth.

I am appreciative that this Committee understands the grave responsibility you have to give this legislation the thoughtful attention it needs and deserves. In order for the legislature to do what it does best – write good legislation – this Committee has a duty to allow this process to provide for a full debate of the issue. In order for the legislature to put its intelligence and expertise to work on coming up with the best possible Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment legislation, this Committee must advance any bill through the process in a way that allows the debate to continue in a comprehensive manner. While we believe that House Bill 4068 is a well thought out bill, we do understand that there are many good ideas. We only have pride of authorship in so much as the final piece of legislation creates good, family-sustaining jobs and raises substantial public revenues. There are many provisions in House Bill 4068 that will help this Committee write legislation that ensure high quality jobs and
the level of revenue we believe is a necessary outcome of any Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment bill.

This is not an open and shut case and I am grateful to this Committee and this legislature for understanding that. This is the kind of real debate we should have on all serious economic development initiatives. As our elected leaders I appreciate that you are living up to your responsibility to listen to your citizens. I urge you not to forget that I’m sitting here on behalf of voters, of citizens, of families in support of Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment. I’m not here on behalf of some nameless, faceless “union.” I represent real people and real families who participate in our society and believe that creating this new sector will help create substantial jobs and raise substantial revenues. We in the Labor Movement are all about democracy, all about transparency, all about merit and all about fairness. I am here on behalf of all working people to participate in a process that has all those things: democracy, transparency, a focus on merit, and fairness.

Today I want to focus on why working families in this Commonwealth support Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment. Let me be clear: The Massachusetts AFL-CIO and labor unions in this Commonwealth do not support casinos for casinos sake. We support quality, high road economic development. That is what these Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment has the potential to be.

Massachusetts is in dire need of job creation. Not just any job creation, but quality job creation. Everyone knows the stories and the patterns of people leaving this state in droves. Everyone knows the statistics of the historically bad job market and the worst-in-generations downturn in the economy. We need to create jobs with which people can raise families so that people can afford to stay in this Commonwealth. We need jobs with family-sustaining wages and benefits, with health care, pensions and retirement security, and workforce training programs so that working people can attain the quality of life they deserve. The construction and permanent jobs that will result from Destination Resort Gamin and Entertainment are essential to the families of this Commonwealth.

Frankly, we cannot pass up this opportunity to create these kinds of jobs. Where else are we going to find such substantial job creation? And where else are we going to create jobs with such incredible potential to be good jobs? I have heard few other ideas that have this much potential for the economy in Massachusetts.

We’re talking about estimates in the tens of thousands of permanent jobs in the Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment industry, as well as estimates of thousands upon thousands of construction jobs for the build-out. Not to mention the fact that the potential for the creation of indirect jobs in the areas surrounding the Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment is immeasurable.

I know there has been a lot of back and forth over the course of this debate about the specific jobs and revenue projections, but what’s important is this: If you’re an unemployed worker one good job is enough for you and your family. What is important is that if done right this legislation will undoubtedly create substantial amounts of family-sustaining jobs. How many paychecks will workers in this Commonwealth have to miss? How many creditors will have to come calling? How many foreclosures will working families have to endure? How many layoffs? How many weeks after our Unemployment benefits run out before we take pro-active steps to create the kinds of jobs we need?

Working families in this Commonwealth believe that, if done right, the benefits of Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment far outweigh any drawbacks. We strongly believe that Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment will give many workers a chance at a decent quality of life. A laid-off worker, or a struggling worker, needs the hope that comes with these jobs. They need the ability to provide for their family.

I can’t believe we’re even having a debate about whether or not we should create Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment. I hope that after today we focus on the debate about how we make sure Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment actually delivers the many benefits they have the potential to deliver. To be clear the Massachusetts AFL-CIO is only supportive of Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment in as much as the proposals will create good jobs for the Commonwealth’s families. We are supremely confident in the quality of jobs that will result from this new sector of our state economy. We ought not be elitist about what is or is not a good job. We only get good jobs if we demand them and strategically create them. A job that pays a decent salary, with health care and retirement security benefits, with career ladders and workforce training programs is a good job.

The plain truth is that we are not creating the jobs that working people in this Commonwealth need. Six in ten adults in Massachusetts do not have a four-year college degree. For these workers Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment offers hope to earn a decent living. Life sciences and biotech and renewable energy and other high tech initiatives taken on by this Administration and this legislature will only go so far in providing working people the kinds of jobs they need. We must have jobs for working people like the manufacturing jobs we’ve lost in droves; jobs where you can still support a family even if you didn’t have the opportunity to graduate from college. We must have jobs where people who are not able to avail themselves of these higher-tech industries can still support their family. Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment creates these kinds of jobs.

Additionally, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO is supportive of Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment as long as we demand that the license holders live up to the very highest standards. We want responsible employers to be awarded licenses for Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment facilities. The ability to operate these businesses should only be given to the very best kinds of employers and corporate citizens. Because the Commonwealth would be awarding license holders a tremendous opportunity to make a profit we have the right and responsibility to demand the most from these businesses. I urge the legislature and the Governor to demand the very most from those who wish to hold licenses for Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment. These are the kinds of provisions that can be put into legislation to ensure that this is high quality economic development. These are the kinds of provisions you will find in House Bill 4068. We urge you to include these kinds of provisions in any final legislation.

During the last debate about expanded gaming, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO sent a memo to the Governor and the General Court entitled “Betting on the High Road: Economic Development Accountability and Gaming in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” In it we detailed what we consider to be necessities for Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment to fully contribute more than their fair share to the families of this Commonwealth. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO believes that the legislature has the power to structure Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment in such a way that high quality jobs and substantial revenues will be a near-certainty.

We ask that Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment facilities require Project Labor Agreements, Job Quality Standards that are worthy of our families, Responsible Procurement Policies, privately-financed workforce development training funds provided by the license holders, as well as neutrality by the employer towards the workers’ choice to unionize, and a seat at the table for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO on any boards that are created in this legislation.

While there may be enthusiastic debates about how and where to dedicate these additional revenues, we cannot get to that debate unless we first support the establishment of Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment. I, for one, want to have that debate about what our priorities should be for the added revenues we will create with Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment.

Our roads and bridges and other forms of transportation and infrastructure are in dire need of more funding.

Our schools need more investments to give our children the education they need to succeed in this ever-changing economy.

Our public employees need additional revenues to ensure that they get the health care and pensions and wages they deserve for the hard work they do for all of us.

There is plenty of time to debate where the money should go. What there is not is a question of whether or not we need the money.

There is no question that this Commonwealth has many needs and I urge the legislature to make the strategic, correct decision to create a Destination Resort Gaming and Entertainment sector in order to create good jobs, grow our entire state economy, and add much-needed public revenues to our state coffers.

I urge you to report House Bill 4068 out favorably, or to include provisions from this bill that will ensure for the creation of good, family-sustaining jobs and substantial public revenues in any other final legislation on expanded gaming. We are eager to help create the best possible bill and urge you to contact us as you deliberate about this important issue.

Thank you.