New Hampshire’s full Legislature passed a law last week that legalizes Keno, with all the funds from this game going towards funding full-day kindergartens for the state’s children.
It was not smooth sailing for the bill, despite the fact that it finally passed both the House and the Senate. Lengthy philosophical debates were held by members in both, with many asking the question whether it was morally right that a gambling game fund the education needs of New Hampshire’s kindergartners. However, reason and logic finally won out and the bill was approved.
“It wasn’t easy – tying it to Keno was difficult for some people but I think the positives outweigh the negatives and I think the House and Senate both realized that,” said Republican Majority Leader in the Senate Jeb Bradley.
The last thing standing in the law’s way is a signature by Governor Chris Sununu. However, this is seen as only a formality because the governor is said to be keen to sign the bill. The governor has made it a priority to fund full-day kindergarten since he took office. Schools will start receiving the additional funding from the beginning of 2019.
“I am proud to be the first governor to deliver a real full-day kindergarten program for communities across our state, which will close the opportunity gap and provide students, regardless of their economic status, an extra step up as they enter the first grade,” said the Governor after the bill was passed. “Full-day kindergarten is good for children and families, and a critical tool in retaining our future workforce.”
Not everyone supported the introduction of keno in New Hampshire, including – strangely enough – Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester who has been pushing for the introduction of casino style gambling in the state for over two decades. D’Allesandro said that he found himself in a moral dilemma to use funds from a game such as keno to deliver directly to state kindergartens.
“It would betray my ethical standards if I were to say I’d use this methodology to fund something that I believe in but I think is the wrong course of action,” he said in an interview after the vote. “I would not want any of you to think that I am a hypocrite, because I’m not a hypocrite.”
