The state budget the New Hampshire House will vote on this week contains no shortage of controversial policies: Medicaid rate cuts, the elimination of the Office of Child Advocate, and sweeping limits on DEI policies in schools are among the changes tucked into the $15.6 billion spending package.
But so, too, are policy changes that would significantly expand legalized gambling in New Hampshire. The changes reflect the growing role gambling revenue has come to play in balancing the state’s books in recent years.
What’s now legal in New Hampshire
While New Hampshire doesn’t have destination casinos — think Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun — we do have about a dozen locations where people can gamble at lottery machines, table games and cards. Most of these facilities are pretty modest but a few are essentially small casinos with the kinds of amenities — restaurants and performances spaces — that full bore casinos use to attract visitors.
New Hampshire also has legal sports betting, as well as KENO in some cities and towns where it’s received local approval. The state also sells an array of scratch tickets and offers digital lottery, which means people can play on their phones.
What could be coming if this budget becomes law?
Legalized slot machines at the state’s charity casinos is one big change when it comes to gambling that’s envisioned in the budget. Under the new proposal, the state treasury would get 30% of the receipts. Right now, charity gambling parlors have historical horse racing machines, which look and largely play like slots but relied on randomized data tied to old horse race results. The state gets 25% of the take from those machines. Video slots play a bit faster and come with lower operating costs, so the state is banking on them generating more revenue from them.
Right now, the state has about 1,500 historical horse racing machines. But state lottery regulators have told lawmakers they think New Hampshire casinos could install around 3,000 slot machines once they’re legal, before the market starts to become saturated with operators seeing diminished return from adding new terminals.
The state lottery commission also believes casinos on the southern border — such as the one that just opened in Nashua — could also pull a good deal of fresh revenue from Massachusetts gamblers.
Other other gambling changes are also on the table
The budget plan up for a vote in the House this week would enable communities that host casinos to allow them to remain open 24 hours a day. Casinos here can’t now allow all-night gambling.
This budget would also end the state’s cap on betting amounts. Before 2023, gamblers could wager no more than $10 a bet for poker blackjack and roulette. Lawmakers raised that to $50 last year, and this budget would eliminate the limit altogether. The House Finance Committee thinks that change could boost state gambling revenue by $5 million.
Non-casino gambling due for a tweak
One tweak in the House’s budget would end the requirement that host communities approve KENO gambling. So KENO operators who met other state requirements could locate in any town, without local approval. The state is banking on $12 million from that change.
The budget also authorizes boosting the cost of the most expensive scratch ticket from $30 to $50. Budget writers predict that change will make the state $1 million.
Still, legalizing slots is the big money maker in this budget proposal: $200 million is what the House is presuming. But none of these proposals have generated significant debate during the House’s budget work and, in a way, it's telling. It shows the degree to which the state needs money to fill a significant budget gap, and also reflect new political realities: Republicans control the Legislature and are not going to consider hiking taxes. They’ve serially cut taxes in the last few budgets, which by some estimates have reduced state revenues by hundreds of million of dollars in recent years.
During that same period, gambling has repeatedly been expanded and revenues reflect that. Since 2018, state Lottery Commission revenues have grown by more than 70%. The House’s budget plan expects annual lottery revenue to grow by 50% over the next two years.
And from Gov. Kelly Ayotte on down, many people with a stake in this budget say gambling is a common sense way to pay for things. Ayotte used to oppose it; today, she says she is more comfortable with it, seeing it as a way to pay for priorities like police pensions and education.
Editor's note: NHPR is among the New Hampshire non-profits that have received revenue from charitable gaming in the state.
