Governor Maggie Hassan continues her push for $80 million in licensing fees from a casino to fund what she says are critical priorities for the state.
The House version of the budget is stripped of the $80 million in initial revenue from a single casino that Governor Maggie Hassan had built into her proposal.
On The Exchange Monday, Hassan reiterated her position that licensing fees from one high-end, highly regulated casino would help fund programs like higher education, school building aid, and uncompensated care for hospitals.
“What we’ve seen from the House budget is that without the eighty million dollars in licensing fees, that are very reasonable to expect to come in, we won’t have the resources to do those things. That has us falling farther and farther behind, and we still have gambling in the state.”
Hassan says she has yet to actually visit a casino, but says she plans to soon.
Nearly two-thirds of New Hampshire residents said in a poll released Friday that they support a casino in the state.
A joint House committee will hold a hearing on the Senate’s casino proposal on Tuesday.
