Industry Lobbyists Push for More Cooperation with Biden Administration to Achieve Common Goals

The greater economic goals of the Biden Administration appear to intersect to no small extent with the economic benefits that gaming has proven to deliver.

Nature of Recovery

In a statement last Wednesday, AGA President and CEO Bill Miller voiced his hopes that Biden will facilitate a needed industry recovery:

“Gaming — an economic engine in communities across 44 states — has been decimated by COVID-19, but our industry has always strongly responded to adversity.”

Economic Benefits

Miller looks forward to working with the new Biden regime to “get millions of American hospitality employees back to work, reinvigorate our industry, support our small businesses, and bring desperately-needed revenue to our communities.”

Travel Leader Speaks

Commuting expert US Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow was optimistic in his praise for President Biden's sensitivity the plight of the tourism industry:

“It is well within reach to return America to the record growth the travel industry experienced prior to the pandemic through national strategies that will revive the American economy.”

Hotels need to refill in order to host gaming in the US, and fund operators who would be in position to re-invest in iGaming when the time comes.

The Hotel Factor

While the language for hotels in Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion recovery plan does not at this point extend beyond their propriety as vaccination centers, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) continues to lobby for general operations aid as well:

AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers calls the hotel industry “beset by historically low occupancy rates, massive job loss, and record hotel closures,” with the main operational recovery priorities being employee retention, reviving local communities, and restarting the economy.

Goals Gaming Achieves

Rogers cited preparedness specific benefits to cooperating with the Biden Administration as to tax reform, and infrastructure investment—benefits which the gaming industry has previously achieved across regulating jurisdictions.

Marrying Goals and Priorities

Since the Biden Administration on principal agrees with the goals laid out by industry representatives such as Rogers, lobbyists seek to demonstrate that reviving commercial operation of hotels can further Administration goals.

Outlook

More venues and financing for gaming projects certainly could generate new sources of revenue for the states--as as they did in Europe before the pandemic.