Massachusetts: Senate President terms gambling debate as passionate, not contentious

The Massachusetts Senate plans to resume work on a casino bill next Tuesday, to wade through more proposed amendments put up by senators.

On Thursday, Senate President Therese Murray said the debate over the last several days was passionate, not contentious as has been reported by several media outlets.

Murray says they have a long way to go before a vote could be cast, and she is not counting on finishing debate by next week. She says more than 80 amendments still have to be debated.

Murray says after a senate vote that could come sometime within the next two weeks, the bill goes to the conference committees, to iron out differences, and then back to the house and senate for a vote. The final step would be to send the bill to the governor for a signature.