Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

On Monday, Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle said: "We have been informed that the governor's office has broken off all discussions with the owners of Twin River -- BLB Investors, LLC. -- regarding the possible state takeover or purchase of the gaming venue. In light of this new development, BLB will review its remaining options."

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Daniel Connors echoed the governor's concern about spending hundreds of millions of dollars at this time to buy a gambling facility, saying that "certainly does seem like an awful lot of money, especially given the state's financial picture.''

But despite the apparent breakdown in talks last week, Connors said believes there is still a possible role for the state and the legislature. "I don't think the governor said or had any one of his agents say, 'you know, we don't want to hear from you anymore. We don't want to talk.' I don't think that was the message that was sent.''

Murphy has said there is only one option he would not consider: a cut in the state's share of the revenue, which currently stands at close to 60 cents out of every dollar left behind by losing players in the machines placed at Twin River by the state Lottery.

But a concerned George Nee, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, nonetheless raised that possibility, saying in an interview on Tuesday that the state should consider reducing its share of the take if that will save "about 500 union jobs up there'' and help head off a potential bankruptcy filing which, he argued, would cost the state money in any event.

"I don't think it's a good strategy to wait and see what happens,'' he said. "I think it is something that should be pursued...[and] yes, we have communicated that to the leadership, and let them know we are obviously concerned about the situation.''

Meanwhile, Gary Sasse, who has been doubling as director of both the Department of Revenue and Department of Administration, shed some light on what was considered during the months of closed-door talks.

He acknowledged, for example, that there was consideration of a state takeover with the state hiring a management company to run the slot parlor.

He said: "We explored every option. One of the options we looked at was a consensual agreement between BLB and the state where the state would take over... and the position we are in today is that we think that given the current fiscal situation, given the economy, that it would not be prudent at this point to proceed.''

He would not disclose the potential terms under discussion, but he said the administration was aware that if it decided to hire a management company to run Twin River, it would have to decide at some point "whether it would be appropriate to do it sole source or through competitive bidding. I am just saying that is an obvious question we had to ask ourselves... [but] I am not prepared to say what the result was of that conversation because the situation could still be fluid.''

On that note, Harrah's Entertainment -- having lost its West Warwick casino bid in a 2006 public referendum -- has signaled its interest in taking over the management of Twin River, should that opportunity open.

"We'd certainly be interested if that became available,'' said Jan Jones, the former Las Vegas mayor who at one point was the face of Harrah's in Rhode Island, by telephone on Monday. "We've always been big believers in the long-term benefits of being in the Rhode Island market.''