Healey calls for casino regulations

BOSTON – Attorney General Maura Healey testified last month before the Mass. Gaming Commission about her commitment to ensuring the state’s planned casinos uphold their commitments to host and surrounding communities.
In a statement, Healey said the casino industry has made “significant commitments” to the state, including the creation of thousands of jobs, development plans, public-safety improvements and in some cases the remediation of existing environmental hazards and traffic problems.
In her testimony, Healey emphasized several consumer-protection issues related to casinos, including:
• Variances. Healey said that “no casino should be allowed to deviate from important consumer-protection regulations set forth in the gaming law.”
• ATM machines. Healey urged the commission to explore the issue of ATM placement in casinos. Additionally, she called for a “wide range” of protections, including caps on withdrawals, requiring that ATMs be placed a certain distance from the casino floor and prohibiting cash advances on credit cards.
• Credit extensions. Healey’s office has advocated for the commission to adopt strong credit-extension regulations.
• Debt collection. Healey is seeking several rules, including language explicitly preventing licensees from selling debt to collection agencies. •

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