Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

For those of you who don't know, I sent out 50 emails to each Governor asking if they would "opt in or opt out" of the Barney Frank regulation bill. For the most part I got a lot of brush offs and being told to ask the Feds for their position on the bill. I suppose they don't want to respond to hypothetical bills. But I did get this response from the Governor of New Hampshire that surprised me a bit. I thought the state was more open minded than this. He seems to be asking for a tall order. But here it is:


Dear XXXXXX,
Thank you for contacting the Office of Governor John H. Lynch regarding the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007.

I am writing to thank you for reaching out to our office with your inquiry and to inform you that unfortunately, Governor Lynch has not yet had an opportunity to review this piece of legislation. Governor Lynch would want to see compelling evidence that the legalization of
gambling would not harm New Hampshire's quality of life before he would consider allowing any form of gambling to take place in our great state.

Thank you again for contacting the Governor's Office. Please don't hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Lillie Green
Deputy Director of Citizen Services
Office of Governor Lynch
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
603.271.2121

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

What are you surprised about? Seems like a pretty standard response for an anti-gambling politician to make.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

Everybody needs to understand that its not an opt in or opt out statute. Its only an opt out statute, which is very very important. I would not write these letters to bring focus to it.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

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Everybody needs to understand that its not an opt in or opt out statute. Its only an opt out statute, which is very very important. I would not write these letters to bring focus to it.

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If this bill passes that will bring a lot of attention to the issue. We might as well know where we stand ahead of time.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

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Governor Lynch would want to see compelling evidence that the legalization of
gambling would not harm New Hampshire's quality of life before he would consider allowing any form of gambling to take place in our great state.

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My obvious question is....are there any forms of gambling in New Hampshire right now? Any lotto games? Horse Racing? Tribal Gaming Casinos? I find it HIGHLY unlikely that there's currently NO gambling in the state. If there is gambling in the state already, this response seems like typical politician BS.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

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Governor Lynch would want to see compelling evidence that the legalization of
gambling would not harm New Hampshire's quality of life before he would consider allowing any form of gambling to take place in our great state.

[/ QUOTE ]

My obvious question is....are there any forms of gambling in New Hampshire right now? Any lotto games? Horse Racing? Tribal Gaming Casinos? I find it HIGHLY unlikely that there's currently NO gambling in the state. If there is gambling in the state already, this response seems like typical politician BS.

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NH has a lottery and is part of the powerball states. They have a couple horse tracks (Seabrook) with some having poker. I don't think any casinos though.

Actually for live poker (tournaments at least), Seabrook is pretty nice.

http://www.seabrookpoker.com/

You would think the "live free or die" state would be ok with it. Fireworks are legal, car insurance is optional, low cigarette and alchohol tax, no state income tax, etc..

Note: Their strip clubs suck though! (Pasties, bottoms, no touch), so maybe it is not all freedom there.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

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Everybody needs to understand that its not an opt in or opt out statute. Its only an opt out statute, which is very very important. I would not write these letters to bring focus to it.

[/ QUOTE ]

So we should let the anti-gambling zealots bring focus to the issue? You can be damn sure that if this passes, the religious wackos will jump into action and demand all the governors opt out.

Hoping politicians just won't notice a new law is a pretty big gamble.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Everybody needs to understand that its not an opt in or opt out statute. Its only an opt out statute, which is very very important. I would not write these letters to bring focus to it.

[/ QUOTE ]

So we should let the anti-gambling zealots bring focus to the issue? You can be damn sure that if this passes, the religious wackos will jump into action and demand all the governors opt out.

Hoping politicians just won't notice a new law is a pretty big gamble.

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QFT.

We keep trying this, hoping no one will notice. It hasn't been very effective. We'll need time to build support for our position, so it makes sense to start sooner than later, IMHO.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Everybody needs to understand that its not an opt in or opt out statute. Its only an opt out statute, which is very very important. I would not write these letters to bring focus to it.

[/ QUOTE ]

So we should let the anti-gambling zealots bring focus to the issue? You can be damn sure that if this passes, the religious wackos will jump into action and demand all the governors opt out.

Hoping politicians just won't notice a new law is a pretty big gamble.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT.

We keep trying this, hoping no one will notice. It hasn't been very effective. We'll need time to build support for our position, so it makes sense to start sooner than later, IMHO.

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I agree. It can be best to be proactive. At least then we are stating our position and not just defending it. If this governor knows he has a lot of constituents in favor of gaming online perhaps he will not be so persuaded by the time the "other" guys get to him.

I also received a letter from the Utah governor. No surprise there, no gambling now or ever. If I can ever get into my email account I will post for you, but it the email account is acting a little quirky these days.

Re: Governor of New Hampshire states position on Frank\'s bill
 

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I also received a letter from the Utah governor. No surprise there, no gambling now or ever.

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No surprise. They should make that their state motto. Maybe put it on their license plate.

I imagine you read Bill Richardson's endorsement of repealing UIGEA that was posted here. So, one state in, one out, and one uncommitted.