Healey Proposes Doubling Casino Revenue Share for Tourism Fund

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey wants to apply more of the money created from Massachusetts' two major casinos to promote local tourism. It's a strategy that Healey's Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley said would bolster a “wildly underfunded” industry in the state.

GBH reported that Healey's budget proposal would double the portion of Massachusetts casino revenue directed to tourism, increasing the tourism fund share to 2% as part of a policy rider in the FY27 budget.

According to a GBH analysis, the strategy would inject approximately $2.5 million into regional tourism councils and marketing. That's an approximately 20% increase to the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund, which currently relies on lodging taxes and casino revenue.

“A 25% increase is not nothing,” Paley stated to lawmakers during a budget hearing at Barnstable Town Hall on Monday, March 9. “It's kind of nothing compared to the amount of tax revenue that comes from the industry, but we are also thinking about how we grow that over time more effectively because, again, I think we're massively sub-optimizing.”

Paley framed tourism as a foundational driver of local jobs and revenue. He noted that Massachusetts welcomes more than 50 million visitors annually and sustains more than $24 billion in economic activity from tourism.

Healey's casino revenue proposal aligns with a period of heightened tourism emphasis this year amid the U.S. 250th anniversary celebrations and the 2026 World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium. These major events are expected to boost local economies, especially in Cape Cod and Western Massachusetts.

According to GBH, Monday's hearing in Barnstable was one of several that state representatives and senators plan to host to discuss the various areas of Healey's budget. Each chamber will prepare to write and debate its own version of the state's spending bill this spring.