2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title II - Executive and Administrative Officers of the Commonwealth › Chapter 23k - The Massachusetts Gaming Commission E Fee or Tax; Penalties. › Section 15 - Criteria for Eligibility to Receive Gaming License

Section 15. No applicant shall be eligible to receive a gaming license unless the applicant meets the following criteria and clearly states as part of an application that the applicant shall:
(1) agree to be a licensed state lottery sales agent under chapter 10 to sell or operate the lottery, multi-jurisdictional and keno games; demonstrate that the lottery and keno games shall be readily accessible to the guests of the gaming establishment and agree that, as a condition of its license to operate a gaming establishment, it will not create, promote, operate or sell games that are similar to or in direct competition, as determined by the commission, with games offered by the state lottery commission, including the lottery instant games or its lotto style games such as keno or its multi-jurisdictional games;
(2) in accordance with the design plans submitted with the licensee's application to the commission, invest not less than the required capital under this chapter into the gaming establishment;
(3) own or acquire, within 60 days after a license has been awarded, the land where the gaming establishment is proposed to be constructed; provided, however, that ownership of the land shall include a tenancy for a term of years under a lease that extends not less than 60 years beyond the term of the gaming license issued under this chapter;
(4) meet the licensee deposit requirement;
(5) demonstrate that it is able to pay and shall commit to paying the gaming licensing fee;
(6) demonstrate to the commission how the applicant proposes to address lottery mitigation, compulsive gambling problems, workforce development and community development and host and surrounding community impact and mitigation issues as set forth in the memoranda of understanding required under this chapter;
(7) identify the infrastructure costs of the host and surrounding communities incurred in direct relation to the construction and operation of a gaming establishment and commit to a community mitigation plan for those communities;
(8) provide to the commission a signed agreement between the host community and the applicant setting forth the conditions to have a gaming establishment located within the host community; provided, however, that the agreement shall include a community impact fee for the host community and all stipulations of responsibilities between the host community and the applicant, including stipulations of known impacts from the development and operation of a gaming establishment;
(9) provide to the commission signed agreements between the surrounding communities and the applicant setting forth the conditions to have a gaming establishment located in proximity to the surrounding communities and documentation of public outreach to those surrounding communities; provided, however, that the agreement shall include a community impact fee for each surrounding community and all stipulations of responsibilities between each surrounding community and the applicant, including stipulations of known impacts from the development and operation of a gaming establishment;
(10) provide to the commission signed agreements between the impacted live entertainment venues and the applicant setting forth the conditions to have a gaming establishment located in proximity to the impacted live entertainment venues; provided, however, that the agreement shall include, but not be limited to, terms relating to cross marketing, coordination of performance schedules, promotions and ticket prices;
(11) pay to the commission a nonrefundable application fee of $400,000 to defray the costs associated with the processing of the application and investigation of the applicant; provided, however, that if the costs of the investigation exceed the initial application fee, the applicant shall pay the additional amount to the commission within 30 days after notification of insufficient fees or the application shall be rejected; and provided further, that not less than $50,000 of the application fee shall be used to reimburse the host and surrounding municipalities for the cost of determining the impact of a proposed gaming establishment and for negotiating community mitigation impact agreements;
(12) comply with state and local building codes and local ordinances and bylaws, including sections 61 to 62H, inclusive, of chapter 30;
(13) have received a certified and binding vote on a ballot question at an election in the host community in favor of such license; provided, however that a request for an election shall take place after the signing of an agreement between the host community and the applicant; provided further, that upon receipt of a request for an election, the governing body of the municipality shall call for the election to be held not less than 60 days but not more than 90 days from the date that the request was received; provided further, that the signed agreement between the host community and the applicant shall be made public with a concise summary, approved by the city solicitor or town counsel, in a periodical of general circulation and on the official website of the municipality not later than 7 days after the agreement was signed by the parties; provided further, that the agreement and summary shall remain on the website until the election has been certified; provided further, that the municipality that holds an election shall be reimbursed for its expenses related to the election by the applicant within 30 days after the election; provided further, that the commission shall deny an application for a gaming license if the applicant has not fully reimbursed the community; provided further, that, for the purposes of this clause, unless a city opts out of this provision by a vote of the local governing body, if the gaming establishment is proposed to be located in a city with a population of at least 125,000 residents as enumerated by the most recent enumerated federal census, ''host community'' shall mean the ward in which the gaming establishment is to be located for the purpose of receiving a certified and binding vote on a ballot question at an election; provided further, that, upon the signing of an agreement between the host community and the applicant and upon the request of the applicant, the city or town clerk shall set a date certain for an election on the ballot question in the host community; provided further, that at such election, the question submitted to the voters shall be worded as follows: ''Shall the (city/town) of ___ permit the operation of a gaming establishment licensed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to be located at ___[description of site]___? YES ___ NO ___''; provided further, that the ballot question shall be accompanied by a concise summary, as determined by the city solicitor or town counsel; provided further, that if a majority of the votes cast in a host community in answer to the ballot question is in the affirmative, the host community shall be taken to have voted in favor of the applicant's license; provided further, that, if the ballot question is voted in the negative, the applicant shall not submit a new request to the governing body within 180 days of the last election; and provided further, that a new request shall be accompanied by an agreement between the applicant and host community signed after the previous election; provided further, that if a proposed gaming establishment is situated in 2 or more cities or towns, the applicant shall execute an agreement with each host community, or a joint agreement with both communities, and receive a certified and binding vote on a ballot question at an election held in each host community in favor of such a license;
(14) provide a community impact fee to the host community;
(15) formulate for commission approval and abide by a marketing program by which the applicant shall identify specific goals, expressed as an overall program goal applicable to the total dollar amount of contracts, for utilization of: (i) minority business enterprises, women business enterprises and veteran business enterprises to participate as contractors in the design of the gaming establishment; (ii) minority business enterprises, women business enterprises and veteran business enterprises to participate as contractors in the construction of the gaming establishment; and (iii) minority business enterprises, women business enterprises and veteran business enterprises to participate as vendors in the provision of goods and services procured by the gaming establishment and any businesses operated as part of the gaming establishment; and
(16) formulate for commission approval and abide by an affirmative action program of equal opportunity whereby the applicant establishes specific goals for the utilization of minorities, women and veterans on construction jobs; provided, however, that such goals shall be equal to or greater than the goals contained in the executive office for administration and finance Administration Bulletin Number 14. In furtherance of specific goals for the utilization of minorities, women and veterans on construction jobs, the licensee shall send to each labor union or representative of workers with which the applicant has a collective bargaining agreement or other contract or understanding, a notice advising the labor union or workers' representative of the applicant's commitments.