The Concord Monitor is reporting that on June 3, the New Hampshire state Senate, overwhelmingly backed bringing slot machines to New Hampshire as a way to patch the state's 2010 and 2011 budget. The plan passed the Senate 16-8, which surprised both fans and foes of expanded gambling. The plan, part of the budget passed by the Senate yesterday, would allow 13,000 slot machines - 5,000 at Salem's Rockingham Park track, 2,000 each at the state's two dog tracks in Seabrook and Belmont, and 2,000 each at two yet-to-be-determined locations in the North Country - at a 49 percent tax rate and with licensing fees of $10 million to $50 million. Backers project that licensing fees and taxes would bring between $185 million and $205 million into state coffers. The fight over the budget - and gambling - is far from over. House and Senate negotiators will hammer out a final budget later this month. The House has a long history of opposing expanded gambling, and any budget must pass both bodies. Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, the Manchester Democrat who has long led the charge for slot machines, said times are changing and the House may change, too. "I've been on this case for 12 years. . . . Twelve years ago at 2 o'clock in the morning, I stood here and talked about expanding gambling," D'Allesandro said, referring to a similar gambling plan that cleared the Senate but failed in the House. "Different time, different story. Stars are beginning to line up because we need something."
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