Casino news from http://www.projo.com/
PROVIDENCE -- Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment continues to throw big money at efforts to persuade voters to support amending the state's Constitution in November to allow a casino in West Warwick.
Last month, Harrah's spent $2.36 million to get its point across, bringing its total spending for June, July and August to $5.2 million.
Save Our State, the group leading the fight against the constitutional amendment, has spent only $193,000 to date.
All of the money spent in favor of the casino -- through a group called Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief -- has come from Harrah's. The company is partnering with the Narragansett Indian Tribe in the venture.
Save Our State has raised a little over $1 million so far, with $500,000 coming from Lincoln Park, and another $500,000 from Newport Grand. About $40,000 was raised from area hotels including the Westin and Holiday Inn in Providence, and the Comfort Inn in Warwick. Other donors include Gregg's restaurants, the East Greenwich Chamber of Commerce and the owners of Twin Oaks restraint, in Cranston.
Save Our State has accused Harrah's of "trying to buy our Constitution" through its heavy spending.
"If I had their product to sell, I'd need at least $5.2 million," said the group's chairman, former Republican Gov. Lincoln C. Almond. "They have a very slick story."
Clare Eckert, spokeswoman for Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief, responded: "Issue campaigns are expensive, but the good news for Rhode Islanders and to the taxpayers is that 86 percent of these expenditures went right back into the Rhode Island economy."
The vast majority of the money was spent to buy TV ads on Rhode Island networks. About $1.4 million was spent on TV ads, and $40,000 was spent on print ads.
Harrah's also paid $154,000 to Winning Connections, a Washington, D.C., company that sells phone-calling programs allowing Harrah's to "communicate individually with voters."
"We will work with you to develop the right phone strategy and scripts, to [tell the] community your campaign's message, identify supporters and undecideds, and motivate voters to go to the polls," the company says on its Web site.
Asked whether this was push polling, Eckert said no.
Peter D. Hart Research Associates, of Washington, D.C., was given $22,500 to do the polling.
Also of note is a $269 meal at Costantino's Ristorante, owned by the family of House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino, D-Providence.
In July and last month, Save Our State spent only $192,602. The bulk of that -- about $124,000 -- went to Providence's RDW Group for public relations and communications work and production of print, TV, radio, and Internet advertising -- most of which has yet to run.
Executive director Timothy Costa was paid $40,000, and Save Our State spent an additional $16,000 to have Delphi Research Associates of Providence do polling.
The rest of the money was spent on operating expenses such as rent, phone and Internet connections, insurance, postage and rental of meeting rooms.
Almond said his group had more contributions coming in by the day, including several from businesses.
"It's $5,000 here and $2,000 here," he said. "I expect we'll have enough money to do our job. I'm not concerned at this point. We're just starting out."
Save Our State will start its TV ads "very shortly," Almond said, once the airwaves clear up a bit after Tuesday's primary.
"I think," Almond said, that Harrah's is "going to find out in November that the state of Rhode Island is not for sale, especially our Constitution."
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