Rhode Island companies invest on gambling lobbyists
Two gambling companies in Rhode Island have invested over half a million dollars on lobbyists to gain a contract extension.
US.- Rhode Island is soon to decide on the future of the Rhode Island Lottery, and there are two companies interested in those operations. Twin River and IGT, the current operator, have invested over US$500k on lobbyists to gain the contract extension for the Rhode Island Lottery.
As reported by WPRI, the two companies have paid over US$512k to 24 lobbyists to fight for the 20-year contract extension for the operations of the local lottery in Rhode Island. Twin River submitted the bid last week and pledged to create 1100 new jobs as well as a US$100 million guarantee.
John Marion, the executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said that this fight for the rights of the Rhode Island Lottery might be one of the largest efforts in recent years in the state.
Rhode Island legislators held the first of a number of hearings on the subject on Thursday. Lawmakers will discuss the US$1 billion proposal in a series of hearings to decide which company will operate the lottery for the next 20 years.
Twin River’s proposal
Twin River promised to include a 50,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Rhode Island if elected to run the lottery. The plan would also limit the control of the casino slot floor to the current state law of 50%. The casino company also revealed that it would invest US$75 million in development for the local lottery as part of its attempt to become the new operator.
Marc Crisafulli, Executive Vice President of Twin River Worldwide Holdings, explained that they believed all along that Rhode Island would secure a much better deal through a competitive bid process. “The bid submittal demonstrates exactly that,” he added.
