Copyright MassLive
SPRINGFIELD — Local lawmakers are working to recover $3 million traditionally used for local projects near casinos but recently grabbed to fund statewide expenses. The restoration of what’s known as casino mitigation funds is about economic parity between Western Massachusetts and the eastern part of the state, as well as keeping promises to voters who supported the building of the downtown MGM casino, said City Councilor Sean Curran. “We upheld our part of the bargain and we are expecting the state to upheld theirs,” Curran said Tuesday. “Our city relies on casino mitigation dollars to ensure safety, support local services and deliver on the promises made when gaming was authorized.” State Sens. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, and Jacob Oliveira, D-Ludlow, have filed two amendments to the roughly $2.3 billion supplementary budget bill. The amendments seek to grab back that money. One is for Western Massachusetts and the second covers all three casinos in the state. They are among 51 amendments filed to the budget bill being debated in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The bill is expected to go to the full Senate this week and then to a conference committee to be reconciled with the proposal passed by the House earlier, Gomez said. “These were promises made and the promises should be kept,” Gomez said. Since MGM opened in 2018, Springfield has received an average of $3 million annually, but that has declined in the past two years and is expected to end soon. In addition, multiple communities such as West Springfield, Agawam and Ludlow and organizations including the Hampden Sheriff’s Department and Pioneer Valley Planning Commission have received money from the mitigation fund, Oliveira said. “It is very important to the communities,” Oliveira said. But with legislators facing a November deadline to get the bill to the governor and facing competing amendments for other funding — such as the need to increase health care funding and money to pay for universal free school meals — Oliveira said he is also looking to alternative ways to return mitigation money to Western Massachusetts, such as working with the Gaming Commission. Curran said it is a matter of parity. The state recently allocated $10 million in mitigation funding for the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer that is coming to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, so it is only fair that Western Massachusetts continues to receive mitigation money for the casino. On Wednesday, Curran will bring the issue to the full Springfield City Council in a special meeting. Members will be asked to support the amendments filed by Gomez and Oliveira. A past state representative himself, Curran said he plans to travel to Beacon Hill this week to show his support for the amendments that would return the mitigation money. A resolution from the City Council will help show there is a need for the funding. The senators are also trying to get the backing from their colleagues, especially in the Boston area and Plainville, Gomez said. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno also jumped into the fight, working with and urging Gomez and Oliveira to see that the amendment was filed to restore what he called vital funding for the city. “I deeply appreciate state Sens. Gomez and Oliveira for their leadership and fighting to try and restore this critically needed funding to Springfield. As a host community to MGM Springfield, the city has utilized this funding to advance numerous projects that benefit our neighborhoods,” he said. In the past, the mitigation money has been used to improve public safety, make road improvements, pay for work on Court Square, fund job training programs at Holyoke and Springfield Technical community colleges and more, he said.
