As expected, Governor Carcieri has vetoed the 24-7 gambling bill for Twin River, "because of my opposition to the provisions of Section 2 thereof which proposes to increase the number of days that the dog track must be operated annually," from 125 to 200.

Carcieri says the dog racing in Lincoln is unprofitable. He points to a 90 percent decline in wagers over the past 15 years, from $150 million in 1990 to $13 million in the current one.

In a letter sent today to legislative leaders, following the recent bankruptcy filing of Twin River, Carcieri adds:

The [24-7] legislation may be viewed by the bankruptcy court as having been enacted to do an "end-run" around the pending bankruptcy proceedings. The increase in the number of statutorily mandated racing days is inconsistent with the premises and predicates of the consensual restructuring agreed to by BLB, the Lenders, and the Administration. To the extent that the enactment of the legislation were to interfere with the completion of the restructuring agreement, the legislation could result in the BLB bankruptcy filing become a protracted, free-fall proceeding -- as opposed to a consensual one. If that occurs, the State could incur millions of dollars in expenses to protect the State's interest in what no doubt will be a protracted bankruptcy proceeding.