The New Hampshire Senate Budget Committee voted in favor of brining slot machines to state horse and dog racing tracks.  The proposal will also bring two brand new parlors full of slot machines to the state.

Manchester Senator Lou D’Allesandro is leading the gambling expansion proposal.  The full Senate is expected to vote next week on the plan.  If they vote in favor of slot machines their decision will overthrow the House vote that rejected slot machines earlier in the year.

Senator D’Allesandro believes the slot machines will help New Hampshire out the financial troubles the state is facing due to the recession.  He has been quoted as calling the plan an “economic recovery job creation package.”

Dissenters of the plan to bring slot machines into New Hampshire think D’Allesandro’s plan is a joke at that the state government has gotten desperate.  To these opponents, slot machines have a feel of being so desperate that the state will do anything to get a buck, even lower the quality of living in the state. 

According to the Granite State Coalition Against Expanding Gambling, New Hampshire can expect an 8 to 10 percent increase in violent crimes once the slot machines are operating.  This expected increase in criminal activity is the main reason the New Hampshire association of police chiefs and Attorney General Kelly Ayotte oppose expanding gambling.

D’Allesandro’s plan will place a 49 percent tax on revenue from slot machines.  This is expected to generate as much as $185 million for the state coffers.  Even opponents believe this figure to be a reasonable estimate.