Opinion ID: 805657
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Statewide Procedures

Text: The Commission's solicitation of applications for category 1 licenses is a key initial step in the category 1 licensing process. The Act does not set a deadline by which the 1 The Chairman of the Commission has stated that the legislation was passed on an underlying economic assumption that [t]he market can handle three casinos. Arsenault, Studies Back 4 Gaming Sites, Bos. Globe, June 15, 2012, at B1. The Commission recently held a forum to evaluate whether the state can in fact support three category 1 casinos, at which the Chairman stated that the economic assumptions that were the underpinnings of the law still hold. Id. -4- Commission must solicit applications for category 1 licenses, nor does the Act establish any timeframe for such solicitation. Rather, the Act provides that [t]he commission shall issue a request for applications for category 1 and category 2 licenses; provided, however, that the commission shall first issue a request for applications for the category 2 licenses. Id. § 8(a). The Commission is required to set deadlines for the receipt of all such applications, id. § 8(c), and to prescribe the form of the application, which must require certain detailed information about the entity requesting a license and its proposal, id. § 9(a). Once the application is reviewed,2 the Commission is to identify which communities shall be designated as the surrounding communities of a proposed gaming establishment. Id. § 17(a). The applicant must reach an agreement with the surrounding communities setting forth the conditions to have a gaming establishment located in proximity to the surrounding communities, id. § 15(9), before the application process may continue, id. § 17(a). The Commission is then to hold a public hearing within the host community of the gaming site. Id. § 17(c). 2 Upon receiving the application, the Commission is to take a variety of steps in reviewing the application and make a variety of assessments as to an applicant's qualifications, according to requirements enumerated in the statute, which we need not outline here. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 23K, §§ 12(a), 12(c), 13(a), 15-16, 18. -5- Between thirty and ninety days after the hearing, the Commission is to take action on the application: it must either grant a license, deny a license, or extend the period for issuing a decision by up to thirty days. Id. § 17(e). Licenses shall only be issued to applicants who are qualified under the criteria set forth in [the Act], as determined by the commission. Id. § 19(a). As said, the Commission may under certain conditions determine that no gaming license shall be awarded in that region. Id. Moreover, the Commission has full discretion as to whether to issue a license. Id. § 17(g). The Act provides that the Commission's decision as to whether to issue a license is not reviewable: Applicants shall have no legal right or privilege to a gaming license and shall not be entitled to any further review if denied by the commission. Id. A license is to be valid for an initial fifteen-year period. Id. § 19(b). Further, if a license is granted no other gaming license shall be issued by the commission in any region during that 15-year period. Id. The Commission is to establish license renewal procedures. Id. Licenses may not be transferred without majority approval of the Commission. Id. § 19(c).