Odds favor DeLeo choice

LYNN – With a legislator who has long favored introducing slot mach-ines into the state waiting to lead the Massachusetts House, local residents have mixed views on the prospect of gambling revenue bailing out the state during tough economic times.Mike Abril said the potentially addictive nature of gambling must be weighed agai-nst the revenue state Rep. Robert DeLeo and other legislators say could offset declining state revenues.DeLeo’s colleagues as early as this week could pick him or rival state Rep. John Rogers as the successor to departing Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi.DiMasi opposed Gov. Deval Patrick’s plan to bring casinos into the state and DeLeo’s initiatives, backed by legislators like Kathi-Anne Reinstein, to put slot machines in local racetracks. With DeLeo as speaker, the state’s financial problems are going to need immediate attention.”Unfortunately, the (commonwealth’s) declining revenues caused by the global economic crisis will require significant reductions in other forms of local aid and other areas of the budget. While Massachusetts has made some key investments in our economy and targeted investments in new and proven industries, the most recent data shows that the need to again trim state spending is clear,” DeLeo said in a statement released Friday.Reinstein said her fellow Revere legislator has 87 votes, including hers, for speaker and said that tally is enough to gain control. She criticized suggestions the vote should be delayed.”The state has a budget crisis. It would be a disservice to everyone in the commonwealth if we delay it,” she said.State Rep. Steven Walsh agreed with Reinstein and said he has “no doubt” DeLeo will be the next speaker.”For anyone to suggest we should move forward without a speaker is absolutely irresponsible,” Walsh said.State Rep. Mark Falzone Monday said he supports Rogers and urged a delay in a speakership vote.”I just want to make sure we don’t do it in a rush,” he said, adding he wants “a full accounting” from DeLeo on his association, if any, to investigations into DiMasi’s affairs.DiMasi’s pending departure has been talked about for months and DeLeo and Rogers, as the top members of House leadership, emerged more than a year ago as successors. DeLeo has joked in the past about his ascendancy, even fending off veiled public references to it by Patrick. He took time Monday to thank DiMasi for his service to the House, saying, “The Speaker’s achievements of forging a universal health care law, supporting the Life Science Initiative, and helping the cause of equality for all of our citizens will benefit the people of the (commonwealth) for years to come. I wish his wife Debbie and him the best in their new life.”During my time in the House I have come to know its individual members well, and through them the concerns of their constituents throughout Massachusetts. My tenure as the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has afforded me the opportunity to work on critical budget and economic issues facing the (commonwealth.) This experience, combined with the over 30 years I have spent serving the public, has prepared me with the skills and knowledge to join the Senate president and the governor in meeting the challenges ahead.”If chosen to be speaker, DeLeo said his goals would include guiding the state budget through perilous fiscal times’ as well as fixing “our statewide system of transportation.”That challenge puts him in the position to weigh in on an issue angering North Shore commuters, toll hikes on Boston-bound tunnels.