 Given the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic governor Baker Provisions of the open meeting law which allow us to conduct this meeting using a Collaborative remote technology. So thank you. Should we have any trouble in this with this connection to those who are attending? Particularly to the public. Please visit our website. We will give instructions at mass gaming calm Bringing this meeting to order This is Massachusetts gaming Commission's 304 Public meeting it is Thursday, June 4 here in the Commonwealth Starting at 10 a.m. Thank you, and I will make sure that We this I want to make sure that I'm recording as well One minute It is saying on my screen that it is recording Kathy. Thank you Great. So we will get we'll get started just so the public knows this meeting. It is being recorded Before we start with the business of the day. I have just a statement that I'd like to make Maintain our deep gratitude of course for all the medical personnel but my workers and Our first responders who continue to selflessly guide us through the pandemic As we know, however resiliency continues to be tested ways that Previously unimaginable in our hearts are broken for all who are suffering loss Dignity and great pain The recent confluence of traumatic events is laid bare the Validity of our nation's racial and ethnic disparity COVID-19 has taken more than 100,000 lives in the United States impacting communities of color and astonishingly disproportionate rate We are all mourning the tragic and senseless death of George Floyd United against inequality and injustice and the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere as Leaders we are compelled to stand up speak out and most importantly proactively create the change we desperately need at MGC We have dedicated much because of the thought will work thoughtful work of the legislature our Work to creating a diverse and equitable gaming industry our licenses share that value and commitment But there's a lot more meaningful work to be done We will do we continue to take the actionable steps necessary to advance diversity and promote I Commend all those who live engaged in peaceful demonstration courageously making your voices heard and you're hurt known Also grateful to those in the law enforcement community Many of whom are members of our MGC team our gaming enforcement unit are protecting and upholding our right to demonstrate peaceful With that we move on to our business of the day with a renewed sense of commitment to listen learn and support each other Thank you, and we'll get started commissioner Stevens for the minutes Thank you. Good morning, madam chair and my colleagues In your packet you have the minutes from the May 14th 2020 commission meeting I would move their approval subject to any changes for Grammatical errors or any other immaterial changes Do I have a second? second If I could I just had one edit I wanted to Or clarification I wanted to ask for I had made a point of commenting at the hearing on the 14th about the theme of Conflict of interest both identifying and then establishing Protocols to prevent the consequences of conflict of interest and I didn't see it in the minutes. I would just ask Sure, if you could go back through and just insert Reference to that can you guess where it might be based on the The time I think it was after my first question. I think it was later. I think I make a comment around 234 I think it was after that Is my memory Right, I know that there was I I think I followed up on the conflicts In any case, I'm sure Shari. You'll be able to find it. I will Great. Thank you. Thank you Should we wait or should we proceed with I think it's I think it's fine It's if to just insert it at the appropriate spot, but otherwise I'm fine to move on it today Okay, commissioner any other edits or qualifications comments I see no, I thought they're excellent Shara. Thank you for making that one amendment comprehensive We'll do a real call vote. Commissioner Cameron. Hi, Mr. O'Brien. Hi, Christian Zunica. Hi And commissioner Stevens. Hi I vote yes, so five zero. Thanks, Shara Mr. Stevens Sure the next set of minutes we have in your packet is from the May 21st 2020 meeting I'd move their approval again subject to any changes forematical errors or any other material changes Second, thank you any questions comments edits on this again excellent Shara. Thank you I'll take a roll call vote. Commissioner Cameron. Hi Commissioner O'Brien. Hi, Mr. Zunica. Hi And commissioner Stevens. Hi Chair votes yes. Thank you. Five zero Chair Chair Juddstein, can I can I also make a statement like you just did? Oh, absolutely. I was going to invite at the end, but I think it makes sense now. Commissioner Zunica I'll let you go first and welcome any all comments. It's an important time for us to share our thoughts Yeah, no, I I think the the most important thing is to acknowledging to acknowledge What's happening around us like that you just did but I didn't you'd want to add my voice to that What we're witnessing is clearly unprecedented and quite possibly an inflection point like it's been said in the media Which I think ultimately will be positive The second the second thing is that it's it's no longer Acceptable to be just standing by and and and remaining silent and hence, you know, I just wanted to add my voice to to this and And you said well all the principles that we stand by I do want to just Mention as we begin the opening of the of the casinos uh, I think it's at least conceivable that You know our our employees Are going to be dealing with with at least some people who might be a little angrier than before and that's why it's uh, it's very important to remember that It is better and usually much much better to diffuse a situation The escalate like I know Our people often do and and and and stand by and that in most cases when it comes to interactions at the casinos Those situations result in just somebody needing to go home And I think that will that will continue But but one of the one of the takeaways for me from From the the seeing the video of mr. Floyd Is how important it is to react with proportionality Something that that is always present in the good people excellent people that we have in the glu I think the recent events Should be a very strong reminder Of of why it's important to always adhere To the principles of mutual respect and the values like understanding So, um, I would just End by saying that uh one of the untied to to the recent report of our independent monitor Neither on chevalier And although there's not exactly a lot of parallels I think a big takeaway for me was When it comes to culture Maintaining culture. I'm not saying we need to create a new culture Culture Everyone has a role And it also needs to be communicated often hence, uh hence these these idea that I introduced that important to Remember acknowledge and communicate That everyone has a role in upholding those principles absolutely Another commissioner would like to speak now or at the end of the meeting that I invite you At this time Okay We'll hold on that those good good thoughts. Uh, thank you commissioners Zuniga I think now then we will move on to item number three On our agenda we're going to hear from a special guest right up front Starting on with workforce supply and diversity development bill Griffin if you could introduce our special guest today I know that Jill you're on but maybe you're not are you still mute? Okay, that was a test Then I can see your face to Jill nice to see you nice to see you as well. Thank you everybody I am joined by the executive director of the massachusetts cultural council and need to walk her and Just by way of background The massachusetts cultural council received receives funds from the casinos The expanded gaming law created As you know 25 tax on gross gaming revenue And two percent of the revenues flow to the massachusetts cultural council One quarter of the revenues is dedicated to the organization And three quarters is dedicated to mitigating the effects of the casinos on Performing arts centers. So she's Here director walker is here to give us an update on the two programs that Result from these funds. So I'm at this point going to turn it over to director walker and And I will also share Her documents. Thank you Thank you very much. Joe and thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about what we're doing at the mass cultural council and may I also echo the center, you know, uh director walker We're having trouble hearing you. So let me just let's just start over And figure out what the technology fix is I also don't see her. Do you does that do other people see her? Yes, I had seen um, I need I'd seen you earlier on and now I am not seeing you I can't hear you either can I don't know if there's a volume issue from your It shouldn't work that way, but Interesting She certainly was showing up is uh, commissioner Cameron. Do you see this walker? I do not As I am viewing Jill Griffin's screen. So let me see if I can change the setting Yeah, um, I don't either You don't either. I see oh on rike does see her. Okay That's interesting now. I'm going to put it on speaker view and I um Director Walker could if you could just start speaking I can see if you should pop up as my speaker Okay, can you hear me? I can barely hear you I can speak louder There we go popping up for me now Maybe it is where you're Mike where you're Uh Facing your are you facing your microphone? Perhaps getting closer to the computer commissioners. I have the same idea I did if maybe you could speak a little bit more directly into your computer Is this helpful? I'm speaking um loudly into the computer now. Yeah, that's that is definitely we can now hear you a little bit Just a little bit Yeah, now I can now I have you does everybody else is everybody all set Yes, okay. Good. All right. There we go Again, I want to thank you very much for the opportunity to come and talk about the work at the mass cultural council Uh, particularly with the much appreciated funding that we are receiving um from um the casino uh tax revenue and just to Reiterate um, this program really was built into the original legislation that legalized casino gambling in the commonwealth of massachusetts And the the purpose is to compensate for the marketplace disruption that casinos bring in competing with our nonprofit presenting organizations for nationally touring artists We receive again to set up the tax revenue one quarter of which Goes to our organizations in general that we support at the mass cultural council and three quarters to the Forming arts organizations that are in direct competition with the casino Um, we have been long waiting for this funding first for the casinos to get open and operating And then there was some technical problems with the language which has finally resolved last winter And so the money finally became available to us at the first of this year um, we were poised our first round of grant making when um Covid hit and everything shut down So we did delay our deadlines for applications to this program to give our organizations who were coping with this unprecedented crisis as we all were So that they we could make sure that we were accessible to all of our organizations designed this program in collaboration with the organizations in the field we had surveys we had focus groups all across the commonwealth We had a design team that was made up of members of the presenting arts organizations And um, we have finally Just in the last week or so made our first round of grants To mitigate the impact of a casino gambling as of february 29th There was 4.7 million dollars in the fund available to us And so we were able to utilize 3.34 million dollars of that fund. That's three quarters of the fund For our organizations that are presenting organizations in competition with the casinos In an application process, not only were we seeking eligibility requirements, but we also wanted to know What impact our organizations had felt so far From the casinos once they opened They were reporting increased artist fees of 25 50 percent even double what they had been used to paying in past years Some organizations found that as many as half of their bookings were in direct competition with casinos One venue in particular a reportedly lost 240,000 dollars because they were unable to book An artist just for two shows because it went to the casino instead So this funding already has proven to be incredibly important in terms of leveling the playing field and making more funds available to our organizations so that they can peak Um, so we rolled out our first round of grants 51 grants were made Ranging in size from 1,000 dollars to 250 thousand dollars We have a funding list that I believe it's going to be on your website. We just made the grants. So, um, I worked with joe and uh, she indicated that they were going to be on your website So you could take a look at the 51 organizations A range of from a small organizations all the way up to the box center in boston Which by the way, um, I should say that you can't escape the environment that we're in And covet has been devastating to our field as all of our organizations are closed They've been experiencing layoffs. They've had to cancel performances. They are in a very cold financially Because of covet and then they were also at the same time struggling with the competitive effect of This money was incredibly Well appreciated and as it turns out it couldn't have come at a more important time in a more crucial time for our organizations We've done some surveying in terms of the impact of covet on our organizations We do a dipstick test every a few months or so And the most recent one april 22nd found that our organizations collectively Had lost as of that date a quarter of a billion dollars in income 15,000 jobs have been affected and um Now I want to turn to the one quarter Of the funding one quarter of the fund that we are responsible for investing We had initially planned a major initiative which i'll talk about in a minute But we felt that um since this was really focused on the sustainability of our organizations We were in emergency. We decided to immediately redeploy this funds Get it out to our field as quickly as possible and Make the highest and best use of it to help sustain our organizations At large in the commonwealth of massachusetts So we created an emergency fund of close to a million dollars of the one quarter of the gaming money Again, I cannot tell you how critical these funds were. There were two parts of our program. We called the program safe harbors 753 thousand dollars of the fund was used for direct grants to our organizations And about 240,000 was for incredibly necessary and important technical assistance The technical assistance we called it basically a technical assistance assault on the field everybody was closed Everybody was paralyzed. Nobody knew what to do We didn't have enough money in our coffers at this late day to the year to refill The holes that they were already sinking in And we knew that the highest and best chance that they had for some sort of stability was going to be coming out of the federal government The sba cares act program was highly competitive, but it was available to nonprofits So in the first week of the covet emergency, we were able to provide Technical assistance through the nonprofit finance fund to 1600 participants again using casino funding To pay for this consultative services and we had we don't have final numbers yet We had many many organizations Not a rule we've been able to apply for cares act funding and many many of them were successful in entering that program We also provided training on cash flow planning How to test various scenarios and work in their way through the covet crisis And how to make decisions on which of those scenarios might be best And we've also done dozens and dozens of small group of one-on-one consultations with our organizations In order to cope with the covet crisis. In addition, we provided 335 grants of $2,250 These were just little lifelines to the field As they were scrambling to find every nickel and dime they could to stabilize their organizations Since all revenue earned income contributed income had really Been left behind So again, I cannot tell you this was certainly not the intent of the casino funding. It was intended to Be a mitigation around the casino issue and also to help our organizations thrive It's been a lifeline. It literally has been a lifesaver for our organizations Well, we have not abandoned our original intention for the one quarter piece of the funding Because we were thinking that we really needed to Lean into a new use this fund for a new and discreet purpose That might in the long run not only enhance One of what we think is the superpowers of the arts and culture in massachusetts But providing a new way of a new funding stream for our organizations beyond the typical earned income And contributed income and with that Two weeks before covet we launched a program called a culture rx and this really focuses on The well documented protective factor That health and arts participation provides For well-being and for healthy living We made a partnership with the health connector the first ever in the country So the people who have the subsidized insurance can use their insurance card to access nearly 200 cultural organizations in the commonwealth And we were also building the very first social prescribing model so that doctors social workers Guidance counselors mental health professionals could literally write a prescription for arts participation And we would reimburse that cost of the services provided by our cultural organizations Using the funds we were receiving from the casinos. We had four pilots up and running very successful And we were on the brink of announcing the full scale social prescribing Initiative when of course covet hit and everything was closed and there was no place to prescribe people to go We don't want to let this We don't we didn't want to put a stop on it We didn't even really want to put a pause in this program So we have set aside $120,000 of the gaming money so that we can keep slow keep that program alive Because we know that the very epidemic that we had before covet was Loneliness and isolation which leads to depression and mental health issues. Well, that is now The way we fight covet by isolating people and keeping them in their homes alone And the consequences of that on the other side of covet Is going to be manifest again through mental health issues and the consequences of isolation and loneliness We can already see it in our youth programs young people who have left The homes that have been the source of their trauma to be part of our creative youth development programs are now sequestered in those very homes And so we want to make sure that the the culture our x initiative is poised to come back to life as soon as we get through our Slowly on the other side of the covet crisis and this funding will be again Of incredible importance to our work at the mass cultural council. I've told you a lot. I hope you could hear it And I'd be happy to answer any questions You were loud and clear uh, director walker. Thank you. I'll start with just my observation I know that you had to pivot here and I was fortunate enough to have a chance to meet with you in advance of the pandemic crisis and was particularly impressed by the possibility of the social prescription Program that I understand you had to put on hold What I like best is that you're you're using of the casino funding to address well-being that Sometimes jeopardize what is jeopardized with isolation? and just as at some point I would love to have The organization revisit us Because I do think there's an opportunity as we discuss for perhaps our game-sense advisors to serve it as social prescribers For as part of the outreach. So I don't know if you've met with our director of responsible gaming yet mark vandaline But sorry and we have a parking dog but We would we would look forward to an opportunity when it's right To to work with the culture center on that Thank you. And we did reach out. I think we were poised for a meeting when everything just completely shut down It's it's such a great disappointment. And it's it's hard to to um, there's so many things that are um In our environment now that are making life difficult on every level of you alluded to it at the beginning I really feel strongly that the culture X initiative is more important now than ever before And it is a priority of the mass culture council Other questions uh fellow commissioners. I normally don't go first, but I I was hoping to avoid the parking dog situation. So thank you Sure, stubborn. Do you have a parking dog behind you? No, no, he some reason he knew to walk out of the room at 10 o'clock. I'm not sure Um, no, thank you madam chair. Um director walker. Nice to see you. Um, thanks for your continued good work and and I know you uh expressed a lot of patience waiting for the money to arrive and I'm anxious to To see the awards that you've made and hopefully give us a better understanding of really the the competing pressures that organizations are under with respect to their relationships with traveling entertainment in our casinos um Just A question Um, you know love to you know, I think there's certainly a A strong mutual relationship that can be formed between your performance organization members and our casinos especially as we come out of this covid crisis and everybody is looking to get back out and do things with their family or Go to a resort and maybe not having a lot of international travelers come in but more local tourism driving the market and looking for those opportunities where Casino licensees can partner with the mass cultural council and your many members would be uh, uh, would be a great opportunity for a strategy session at some point I completely agree and um even in advance of um Um life returning to whatever normal is going to look like in the future It occurs to me that our organizations truly are struggling with Um, whatever best practices may be available, especially for assembling people in venues Our theaters our larger venues. I expected casinos are also taking a look at best practices there as well Whether it's timed admissions, whether it's reduced occupancy This is all sort of uncharted territory for us And we are really seeking expertise and if that expertise is available in the casino organizations if they have access to information consultation I think we're all in a sense Sort of operating in a similar space That we've never had to contend with before. What's the business model when you're not able to have as many people? But the shows cost the same Why can't we share some of that information and work together on finding those best practices? I think that's a great idea. I think that's uh, Perhaps a great starting point to to build the relationships between our licensees and And the many cultural organizations across the Commonwealth. I think that's a great suggestion. We should follow up on that Thank you, madam chair Other questions for director walker Commissures All right Well, not just just to say that I look forward to To another update on their different circumstances. However, those You know, how are that new normal is? I think We're in a very unique situation and there's very similarities as you suggest With the casinos having unable being unable to conduct large gatherings but as as Things return to some kind of normalcy. We'd love to have you back and give us another update I I think if i'm correct and director walker, I don't know if your plans have changed, but We may not be seeing you come back. It may be a reporting from a successor or members of your current team Um, it has been announced that you do plan to retire and go back to california where you and I talked We both have our children there um So when is that date? Actually, um 26 days, but who's counting? And I want you to know, um, I I did announce my retirement two weeks before coven Because everything was in perfect shape. We were on a we had a great budget We were on a path to a nice increase this year our organizations were strong the agency is strong It continues to be um, and so I figured that was a great time to head west To spend more time with my adult children and of course two weeks later, you know what happened, but no my I bought a house to california and My last day is june 30th, but you have a strong partner at the mass cultural council and I assure you that that will continue Thank you. Well, we wish you well and we thank thank you for laying the foundation We're so pleased that the legislature thought to make sure that some of these funds traveled to this effort On behalf of all my fellow commissioners. We wish you well and thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you Thank you. Thank you Jill We We navigated the technical challenges Again much too Because of the success laid by our great ip team. So we're moving now To item number four our administrative update from the interim executive director Karen Good morning, madam chair and members of the commission As initial matter again, I would like to thank our staff who have all been just working so diligently during the most trying of times And I'm so grateful for all their efforts and their great work product Just as a few updates. We continue to work on the guidelines for casino reopening We are expecting to have a public discussion on that on next thursday june 11th So I expect that there'll be a public meeting notice put out on that Also, uh, we want to recognize the pandemic has had an impact on not our only on employees at the casinos But also on casino vendors So our director of workforce supplier and diversity development. Jill Griffin who you just heard from earlier has been working on Not only identifying resources for local vendors, but also working on understanding that impact and what's going on And I just wanted to give Jill a minute or two to just to just highlight some of those efforts and what she's seeing for the commission Thank you, um as chair jed stein Stein opened the meeting. She mentioned that our licensees Really have been focused on providing opportunities to vendors throughout the commonwealth But with a particular focus on ensuring that minority women and veteran businesses Had access to these opportunities to provide goods and services The shutdown both of the general economy and of the casinos has had a significant impact Especially on the small business community We've been in touch with many of these vendors and what what I have seen is that Many of the small businesses, especially those who have grown rapidly due to the casino business Have been particularly hard hit There are others who had a more diverse Business mix Who are you know Of course are still struggling But maybe have been able to pivot for example a w mbe that I talked to yesterday is Now selling face masks and hand sanitizer But she she mentioned that you know, these are tough times So we have The commission's office of workforce supplier and diversity has responded By offering resources. We've engaged to business advisory firms to provide technical assistance We have provided up-to-date information on all the resources throughout the commonwealth on our website And we have also provided a series of webinars on march 18th We had ken messina from the mass higher department of career services rapid response team And he provided options for businesses experiencing downturn And gave them options in terms of furloughs the work share Program as alternatives to layoffs as well as highlighting The department's re-employment services On april 14th I mean the nally from leaf the local enterprise assistance fund discussed strategies utilized by businesses During previous downturns to manage liquidity and balance sheets And then later on in the month of april we actually brought in the u.s. small business administration district director Robert nelson and his deputy nadine boom Both from the massachusetts district office and they gave us really up-to-date information Not only on the ppp program and other cares act Funding but also other bridge loans and debt relief that businesses can take advantage of so we continue to reach out and And work with businesses to provide information And and talk with licensees about particular situations So thank you Thank you Questions, I know it's part of Interim sector director wells administrative update but for for chill now all commissioners. Do you have questions on this particular initiative? Bruce did you want to come no just to just to say I've had a chance to be on some of those calls that jill has had just Offering kudos to she and in crystal howard for the good work that they've been doing Excellent excellent outreach and so critical Um, and i'm gathering that you're getting a good attendance Good yes. Thank you excellent Thank you. Karen. Do you wish to continue? Yeah, so as to item 4a on the agenda the mgc office space update I wanted to let you know that the team has been working with commissioners cameron and stephens on our internal office reopening Governor baker implemented a four-stage plan to reopen massachusetts And under the governor's current plan work then can be done remotely should be continued to be done So until phase four And also the casinos and horse racing tracks are currently identified to allow reopening in phase three Because of this framework our internal reopening plan is to focus on the office space at the casinos and the racetrack first As that space will presumptively need to be utilized in phase three while the boston space For the most part will not need to be utilized until later Our remote working capabilities have been extremely successful. So we will comply with the governor's directive to keep doing so Currently only the state police is in the boston office And they have received the retired training from the state police on appropriate safety measures So we're looking to the governor's advisory committee guidance as well as state and federal health official guidance as a roadmap To what needs to be done before employees can go back to either the casinos or the boston office Derek Loretta and Tripti have been participating in working groups with HRT on the statewide plans for office reopening And the safety related protocols and HR issues. So I'd like to thank HRD for including In in those meetings. They've been extremely helpful. We're very grateful for that Uh, the process is extremely complicated. It's unprecedented. And so I'd like to thank Loretta, uh, Derek and Tripti For all their work they have put into these groups and the and the feedback they've given back to us on our behalf So just want to update you on the casino office space Game agents will need to be on site to get the casinos ready for opening And then once the casino's opening are do open Racing employees will also need to be on site to prepare for the opening of racing in phase three And we also recognize the game sense advisors our advisors are expected to be on property as well GU officers have already been they have been on site all along and they will continue to be there So prior to uh staff going back to the site so the game agents the racing employees and the Game sense advisors There are a number of things that need to happen So some examples are noticed to the employees about returning That's very important so that employees have an opportunity To respond to the return to work if they have any health concerns safety concerns any hr concerns that they can talk to their supervisors are for hr We are very employee focused here and we want to know from employees if they have any anxiety or concerns Because we'll work with people to find solutions We also need to secure necessary supplies such as cleaning agents hand sign sanitizer masks and other PPE We also have to prepare the work site. For example Office configurations need to be changed. What do we do for break rooms and shared things such as refrigerators and coffee makers? We also need to address social distancing in the office space We have to have sanitization protocols for such things as copy or scanners shared computers We have to identify and implement putting up the appropriate signage So there's appropriate messaging and reminders, which is helpful to keep people safe And then we also have to have training for employees on the protocols and what they need to do to comply with the safety measures So that everyone is safe So before going back to a work location each employee will need to do To complete training on what those protocols are and our goal is to have that training for ngc employees identified within the next 10 days As for the boston office Currently as i've stated our boston office functions have been working remotely and are expected to do so for the time being So we don't know the exact time frame of phase three But in order to comply with the directive and to minimize the risk of the state police officers that are working at the boston office That space will generally remain closed at this time and as such telework will continue Uh once restrictions are lifted and we will be rolling out further planning I get that people have anxieties about public transportation about going back to work Uh about how they're going to get there and what's going to happen So we are going to work with people and talk to them about that And but I also recognize people miss being in the office that they miss seeing their colleagues and they'd like to Be back with other people You know as amita mentioned this this distancing does have a psychological impact So we we do need to recognize that but we'll be looking at possible additional measures that may help with a safer incremental Rollout including staggered work times looking at configuration of the office space But we think about specific days or weeks that individuals will come in so that we're not having The full capacity at the office at the same time So any measures that we're going to do would be laid on top of any kind of state requirements that apply to all state Agencies as well as other businesses across the state The other thing we're doing is we're in contact with the building. Uh, Joe Delaney has been very helpful with that To coordinate on their safety protocols As we are in an office building not it's not just owned by the state We have to work in partnership with that building Uh, the other thing is we're we're expecting some good information gained from opening the casino space that we'll be able to use To help with the process of opening the Boston space. We're all Identifying lessons learned and best practices. So we'll this will be an evolving process and we'll be learning from what Is going on not only across the state but across the country Um, so I don't know if Derek or trippie have any comments. I'll allow them to jump in if they have anything They think I may have missed Derek or trippie any comments at this time No, I think you've covered everything. Okay Okay, uh, so it also, you know, like to uh, give an opportunity for a commissioner camera and or commissioner stebbins to say anything Is they've been uh, very helpful with the group in making sure that you know, we are getting the directive from the commission as What needs to be done and you know, I commend them for their continued Uh, focus on the safety of employees, uh, which I've seen throughout the commission that that Approach that we're all in this together and we're going to do the right thing. Um, they've been uh, having that same Approach to the office's reopening. So I just mentioned That uh, commissioner Cameron and mr. Stebbins have been helpful in that area and turn it over to them if they have any comments Really quickly, um, interim director wells. I just um want to comment on the collaborative nature of this process meaning Uh, Bruce band may you know, he knows what has to happen with all of those gaming agents as far as reopening but What he doesn't have to do on his own is figure out all of the health and safety issues on top of that The team is helping and these meetings have been so collaborative You know, whether it be derrick or trupti or loretta with the legal issues. They are Helping each working group. It happens to be um gaming agents and and racing first And then jumping right in with uh racing meaning what are those best practices? Alex has got a lot that she's doing With regard to getting it open But the the other folks are helping tremendously with the legal and the health and safety measures So I appreciate being part of this team who cares so much about Getting it right. What are the best practices? How do we do it safely? Um, so that has been really apparent to me that we're not leaving anybody out on an island You figure it out the team is Helping each other out through this whole thing and I just you know commend karen your whole team for for these efforts Hi, I would just add to gale's comments and and certainly it's been a collaborative effort and and there's some Is karen highlighted. There's some unknowns that Are evolving every day. So our ability to stay on top of those changes and new requirements is going to be important But I also like the fact that very early on this team established the notion that we wanted to open up Lines of communication for our staff so they could reach out to us They could tell us what their concerns were whether that was reporting to their department director with their uh, anxiousness might be about returning to the office or as karen mentioned using public transportation or what have you to get to work so uh, you know the notion of team continues to be reinforced and uh, you know keeping the lines of communication open among all the staff is just A tremendous component to the collaborative work that's been going on great Any other questions or comments from any of the commissioners Excellent excellent work and um very much appreciated the detail and of course, I think you've expressed how complex it is I think From my perspective, I've been reading the guidance that's provided to the public I find it to be very accessible and I commend governor's advisory board for getting products out to to us that is accessible and and and easy to understand and We're looking to try to make it friendly and i'm so happy that h.r.d. Did invite us in to get the additional expertise We might as well be all working together and sharing that expertise so Thank you and thanks to everybody's efforts and I understand When you say we're going to focus on the casino opening That would be the with respect to the reopening of the office. Those are the employees who have to be on the the um Casino property the gaming agents We're going to work with mark and the game sense advisors and then our our geu And then the idea is in accordance with the governor's Uh recommendation to have the offices actually reopened later Correct And that's what the rest of the state Employees or that approach is being taken across the state for all state offices Yeah, the the so the directive talks about Remote work that can be done should be continued to do so now we have the advantage because we were Forward thinking in the it side of the house so that we can do a lot of work remotely So that puts us in an advantage and may put us in a different category but um But generally we're following exactly what's going on across the state Depending on what your capabilities are Got it. So the standard is if we're able to work remotely effectively Right, we'll just continue and phase that in later Right That's me. Okay, exactly. Okay excellent very very good work and thanks gail and ruse for you for Helping in that effort. Yes. Karen do you have another? Yeah, so item 4b is the plain ridge park license renewal update So i'll turn that over to joe delaney to give you an update on where we are on that Thank you Thank you. Madam chair commissioners Real brief update on on plain ridge park Relicensing so on monday on june 1st we received A series of attestations from ppc as part of their license renewal application And these addressed 16 items on our list of application requirements. So they're they're getting there on on on getting us the information We're expecting the remaining attestations on june 15 So some of the main items that they have left are Internal controls some rfa2 compliance regional tourism and marketing And information regarding horse racing compliance So they haven't gotten us that information yet and also the application fee and you might remember from the last meeting We mentioned that ppc might be requesting a deferment of that payment That is not the case any longer. They expect to get us that payment On the 15th with the rest of their information, which is great So I guess they'll need to work with derrick on how to get us the payment. So So that's moving ahead and then assuming that we receive all of the remaining materials on june 15th We should be able to have a vote on june 18th Regarding as to the adequacy of the application And then at that point we can put together a schedule For the commission's deliberations on the license renewal itself So long and short everything's moving forward As we've expected and um, you know, no hiccups at this point show this Thanks, joe. I'll just turn it over to the commissioners with any if they have any questions Commissioner stemmins for joe sure joe. Thanks for your good work. Just a quick question Obviously before this uh pandemic hit us part of the process was going to be some Uh type of public hearing to hear from the community I don't know what thought we've given to that is We deal with uh, you know social distancing and everything else, but I don't know if you want to take a minute to address that Yeah, I think um, you know, I think it's still a plan to have a public hearing of some sort Given our our new circumstances. It might be one of these hd meetings or something to that effect I think it was our intention to have something down in plainville, which will give people opportunities You know, it doesn't sound like that will be possible or you know, unless it's deferred for a little while Maybe it will be possible, but it sounds more likely that we'll have to do a meeting of this fashion. I would Thanks, joe Other questions for joe I have a question more process Karen and joe It's the schedule for deliberation something we could address at our next agenda setting meeting So that we get a sense of timing and what that will constitute with the threshold understanding we still have to Vote on the 18th about the sufficiency of the application Correct. Yes. I think you're correct on that Scheduling wise we need to schedule the sort of that suitability portion, which I expect will be done shortly So uh at our agenda setting meet on on wednesday. We could talk about when that would happen And so in taking a consideration commissioner stephens I Be reiterating the idea of a public hearing any other components of the deliberations what would what needs to be scheduled If that if we could at least start that discussion this wednesday on I think that that makes sense. Yes Some of the other things that we were looking at were um, you know, looking at some documents on site Um, and you know doing sort of a bit of an audit of documents on site now You know if the opening proceed the reopening proceeds According to sort of current schedules That's probably something that we can fit in that schedule and go down on site and still be able to do that You know once once our gaming agents are back in now clearly One of the concerns is Trying to reopen the facility while trying to relicense them at the same time will have uh, Certainly some some challenges associated with that. So I think we just need to be mindful of of of that and and schedule this uh, the commission's additional work and deliberations Sort of in conjunction with that reopening and with that said, of course, there's still plenty of unknowns commissioners and you that did you have any comments and I am recalling that we And and forgive me I haven't looked back in the records, but we did have a memo that outlined The process and I'm not sure if the deliberation piece and all those other components like this audit are in that memo My memory is failing me. Yeah, they are there's there's a whole final review procedure that we have in there So I can get you all copies of that letter. That's the letter we sent out to ppc on february 28 I think it was Yeah Yeah, February 28, maybe in advance if you could recirculate that to us in advance of wednesday that might be helpful And anything else that would be great. And then we can just start to schedule out For the meetings through the summer Again with the understanding that we still have that threshold decision Excellent any more any other questions a commissioners inica? No, maybe Just only only to reiterate perhaps what you were alluding to you know in february We had all the intention frankly of doing a lot of our work prior to june 24th And the time the timeline really lend itself for that But of course in early march everything, you know changed and so As you say the threshold now is just the sufficiency and I I'm glad to hear that it's moving along When it comes to the review including the visa and fight that I had at least vision or some financial documentation, etc We have a lot of flexibility relative to to the time frame So long as we've deemed that that information that has been has been successfully submitted sufficiently submitted in time Just so you know or everybody knows I have scheduled We've scheduled a phone call internally with the financial investigator team Loretta and Monica and there'll be it will be discussing exactly, you know some of these Logistics relative to reviewing maybe using this type of technology or emails or or on-site Business Any further questions before we turn back to Karen? Okay, Karen. Okay, so that concludes the administrative updates So we're all set with item four in the agenda Excellent. Thank you. Thank you very much We're moving on now to item number five again A matter that was truly ready back in I believe February and we appreciate all the Patience that was exercised as we push this matter back on our agenda It deserved some special time in the agenda and to have squeezed in would have been inappropriate This was work that started in 2018. I want to acknowledge the efforts of commissioners of brian commissioner Cameron and Loretta and Kerry and troop D and then of course we have had the benefit of outside expertise as well So thank you very much. This is a presentation on a sexual harassment policy and regulation for our licensees and I'm going to turn it over to commissioner Cameron to to start the process. Thank you sure. Thank you madam chair and This item as you mentioned has been something We have been working on for, you know, many many months Thought it deserves some attention in light of all of the issues um that we were dealing with last year And but I but I certainly the working group in general doesn't want to be toned after what is happening in our country right now as a retired law enforcement official You know, I'm certainly pained by watching videos and the unnecessary loss of life Um, so race discrimination is certainly in the forefront. In fact, it's It's a genesis of every discrimination law and started with race discrimination and I'll have uh commissioner brian speak more to the Law itself, but I think um As a committee we're dealing with this issue today, but as regulators I think I can speak for everybody that we are supportive of Some public safety reforms that are urgently needed And we will do our small part as a commission to be vigilant about Making sure employees patrons are treated with dignity and respect Um, no matter who they are setting the tone at the top And I think we have our GU members who do set that tone I've had many discussions with them about these particular issues and The leadership team really understands it and So I didn't I didn't want to start this discussion without Mentioning the fact that we are cognizant of everything happening in the world And this has been Certainly not more important, but it's just an issue that we Are handling commissioner brian. Do you want to add to that? certainly, um, I think One of the things I do want to make clear and it's clear from the caption of what we're proposing Um today is this The genesis of the subcommittee may have started with the sexual harassment allegations that that we dealt with in in March or last year However, um, it was not myopic. We were looking at Something broader than that and as you can see from the caption of proposed reg. This is a broader Um rule in terms of what we're hoping to do to create a baseline and keep an eye on all types of unlawful harassment and discrimination There are parts of what are being proposed today that specifically reference sexual harassment in part because the mcad has very specific Models and policies on sexual harassment, but I want to make clear that no one should think that it is in any way Um denigrating any other form of harassment or discrimination We're making specific references to procedures that exist because we want that to be the threshold However, this is designed to ensure that um the employees the customers at these establishments um have basic fundamental fairness and treatment in all of their encounters Um, I carry we'll go into some of more the specifics in terms of the machinations of what we're proposing today, but um, I do think even something as Dry as talking of a policy and procedure. I do think speaks to what we all need to be doing right now, which is Laws policies and procedures that are enforced properly can be very powerful tools And even if this is a small way that we are standing up for what needs to be happening right now This very dry discussion about a reg. I think is actually The opportune time to be talking about it given what's going on right now and and with that I would defer to carry to give An overview of what we're proposing Sure. Thank you commissioner o'brien and good morning, madam chair and commissioners um, so with hearing As our background, I do just want to note also before I run through a summary that We do have our outside labor and employment council more McLaughlin from morgan brown and joy on the call with us we consulted with her on Best practices related to these issues And she did contribute a great deal to this regulation and she's available for questions That I might not be equipped to answer that are really focused on labor and employment issues today So she is on the phone with us if those questions come up Um, so in summary, uh, the regulation you have in your packet 205 cm r 138.72 Um, this requires the gaming licensees to have a system of internal controls that includes policies and procedures relative to ensuring a workplace free from discrimination and harassment Some of the highlights of the regulation include a requirement that those policies and procedures comply with all elements of federal state and local law And incorporate all elements of the mass issues of commission against discrimination model sexual harassment policy A requirement that the policies include written procedures Outlining how concerns or allegations regarding unlawful discrimination harassment and retaliation are to be reported Including multiple reporting options A requirement that training on unlawful discrimination harassment and retaliation be provided by the gaming licensee to all employees within 90 days of hire And every two years thereafter A requirement that the gaming licensee review its policies and procedures every two years to ensure compliance with all federal state and local laws related to unlawful discrimination harassment and retaliation A requirement that the gaming licensee maintain detailed information related to each concern Alligation or claim of unlawful discrimination harassment or retaliation reported during the previous calendar year And a provision authorizing the commission to review any records pertaining to those policies and procedures We have met with the licensees regarding this regulation and we did receive positive feedback that was back in february And at this point we're looking to the commission for guidance And potential possible vote if you feel comfortable beginning the promulgation process at this point So I think I'll open it up if there are any questions on the regulation Any questions for morrow or any for me or commissioners Cameron or brian Just just um it may go without saying but if these um, you know, if any if there's any future changes to federal Local or state laws, of course these would incorporate those future changes. Is that is that correct? Yes, exactly Are you sure stevens? Yeah, just two quick points and maybe Our outside attorney can jump in on a couple of these first of all Thanks to the team that worked on this With with respect to process And in looking at the draft regs is it inherent and I think that's what we've heard about or Seems to be a perception that when a complaint is filed sometimes the complaint and doesn't hear back about how a Case has been Disposed of or investigated is it inherent in the regs that that component of the process is built in for our licensees to follow Moran do you want to address that one? So I think Kathy she's mora. I'm a block and is on by name if you wanted to unmute her Star six I don't know if Kathy also needs to unmute that as well I Sorry, I was just coming to make sure she is yep. Thank you Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. Um Yes, it is contained in the thinking of these proposed regulations that Uh, we're appropriate, but there may usually be times When it might not but following the mass commission against discrimination model regulations We're appropriate at the conclusion of an investigation a complaining party is told of the results of the investigation Okay, all right. Thank you for them the the other question And I think at some point that's raised wonderfully in the in the in the draft regulations about Uh, you know the licensee she'll ensure and she'll inform employees that Individuals of different genders are available for reporting of complaints That that would seem to be a helpful resource for semi filing a harassment concern Is there any best practices that suggest? uh having a team You know having a diverse team would um Be a valuable resource for some me Perhaps filing a claim around discrimination If there's any best practices related to that So at present i'm not aware of a sort of specified best practice because I think your question if I understand correctly Takes into the idea that we are prohibiting discrimination and harassment on all protected categories not just sex and so Uh while it might be difficult for even licensees as robust as the I'm sorry organizations as robust as the licensees to have someone on staff of every Religion national origin race Certainly, I think these regulations contemplate having the persons who will be receiving complaints be Uh trained in and fully aware of appropriate complaint and investigation processes So that persons of any protected category can come forward and know that they will be taken seriously and investigated appropriately And I think just correct me if i'm wrong morrow, but um I believe the requirement that opposite genders be available if is stems from a threshold requirement in one of the regulatory schemes I believe that it doesn't speak anything beyond The idea of um of um persons of different genders being available to take complaints is drawn directly from the nc ad's Suggested model policies and best practices with respect to harassment investigations um, so yes, you're right that we do actually have a A scheme and a Recommendation from the massachusetts agency tasked with preventing and rebiting discrimination as to the employees of different genders I it has not at this point been expanded to cover other protected categories beyond gender and sex Thank you. Thank you commissioner brian I have a couple of comments. I don't know if i'm i don't want to jump in ahead of commissioner zuna guy You all set for right now. Okay, just a couple of comments one um I i'm wondering about them when the mc ad model policy was last updated Mark, can you comment on that? Sure, the mc ad model policy hasn't been updated in a number of years and again The model policy at the mc ad is targeted toward sexual harassment I will say best practices in the employment law field as I understand them and as my firm generally practices Is that when these policies are put together in an actual employment setting? They are drafted to encompass all forms of unlawful discriminatory harassment So when you say it hasn't been updated for a while, I just want to just I I think this is a fine policy for us to model This against and we know that we also are looking at other License the licensees have their own But I I do think that we should just acknowledge that this hasn't been updated. I don't believe since you know, and I It's unfair to probably label this but the me to movement I mean it's much bigger than a me to movement But just so that we acknowledge that the mca deem policy Is I it's in me probably Updated but you're comfortable with that In terms of a framework for us that in and what you just qualify just now more that it can be applied As the proper framework for this purpose I'm very comfortable with the way it's drafted in your proposed regulations. It does say that it is Floor it is at a minimum it shall incorporate those elements And I think you're absolutely correct that the mc ad's policy pre dates The me to movement to state it simply. I think there are some Tweaks that most of us looking at it would Make for example, I think it still refers to a lot of he or she Whereas now we are in a world where we very much understand that we Try to avoid gendered language in these policies that said I think that it's core elements in terms of Providing a definition of unlawful harassment Making sure that people know that it's taken seriously Making sure that it's clear that Persons who engage in inappropriate conduct whether or not it rises to the level of unlawful harassment are subject to the employer's disciplinary policies I think it's still a very good foundation and framework for you. Yes. That's excellent. It's a Really helpful clarifier for me Laura. So thank you And then the only other and I Assume if we haven't that we should probably be in touch somehow. Maybe uh, commissioner bryan commission Cameron to mc ad to Let them know that we use their guidance because I think that's really important And I like you know, I knowledge that it's a floor, but it's a really good floor No, so Um, and then the only other comment in commissioner bryan You and I've been working quite closely with the independent monitor just on the in the oversight of it Can we make sure to if this goes through today on the first steps or whatever to keep the independent monitor updated on this? There's an intersection Commissioner Cameron, do you agree? Yes, I know we receive guidance at the beginning Not to involve them and commissioner bryan can probably speak to that Certainly notifying them it would be appropriate so that they have All the tools they need to to do their job Just in just in terms of making sure we're being transparent with them. Commissioner bryan. Do you agree with that? Absolutely. We deliberately did not engage them on this topic During the drafting and the presentation phase If this is in fact voted today, absolutely. We can vote. Okay, excellent. Yeah. Yeah, okay But those are my two questions uh commissioner zuniga. Do you have any questions all set? I got the thumbs up for those who are listening and not watching. Okay um Next steps commissioner bryan and commissioner Cameron or carrey It's really a question of um commissioner camber and I have been working on this for some time The question is whether you other three commissioners feel comfortable Moving on this today or whether you would like us to mark it up for the next hearing But we can vote on it now if everyone is comfortable I just want to also acknowledge About truth. Yeah, I'm a matter too because absolutely It's meant from uh, I meant from a preparation to vote standard not not the lion share of the work No, no, no, I'm just saying in terms of um, I just hadn't But if they wanted to chime in as well And elaine driscoe was very helpful with this as well As part of the working group. Oh, excellent. Excellent elaine too if you want to chime in Well my commissioners it sounds as though that there could be We could move ahead then on the regulatory process And it doesn't have to be emergency regs, correct carrey That's right And just a reminder also that if you do vote to begin the process today That certainly doesn't mean that we can't make changes throughout the process Excellent Madam chair, I'm comfortable with moving, you know, this starts the regulatory process where there's more opportunity for public input But I think the the work here Is is great and the policy is is Very clear and the fact that our licensees have had some input into it already. I think it's ready to go Well, I'm very impressed by the work and and the efforts and the collaboration You've had a great team on a really important topic and as gail points out It's only a subset of the important That needs to be done whenever we address discrimination intimidation um and retaliation so Um, I appreciate the effort. I should know that you know the term executive director Has um agreed and I applaud this to Work while we're in remote On e-training on implicit bias for our own sake and our own purposes, which as you know is a step in in the right direction every Every step matters and it will allow us to engage in important conversations even if it's in within ourselves and not within a A real classroom The real classrooms can occur at the right time down though But at least getting some e-training for ourselves to reflect will will make us feel Better informed and feeling like we're participating in these important discussions. So And it's all part of this discussion So I'm I feel very prepared commissioners in again Yeah, uh same same here. I think it It's it's appropriate. It's been worked very well Deliverated upon and I think starting the promulgation process would be Would be ideal at this time I've not heard a motion yet correct, but we do need a motion So I'll uh, madam chair. I move that the commission approved the small business Impacts statement for 205 cmr 138.72 policies and procedures For ensuring a workplace free from unlawful discrimination harassment and retaliation and retaliation as included in the commission's Second Any discussion Other than thank you Okay, a real call vote commissioner cameron. I Mr. O'Brien. I Mr. Zunica. I Mr. Stevens. I Yes, five zero sharp. Thank you so much Madam chair, I further move that the commission approved the version of 205 cmr 138.72 policies and procedures for ensuring a workplace free from unlawful discrimination harassment and retaliation As included in the commissioners packet and authorized the staff to take all steps Necessary to begin the regulation promulgation process second Thank you. Any further questions on the reg proposal itself Hearing none, push your camera Hi, mr. O'Brien. Hi commission Zunica. Hi, mr. Stevens. Hi I vote yes. Thank you Five zero. Thank you. Excellent work. Um, and again, thank you for your patience as it moved around in the agenda And I look forward to the future discussions. Thank you. Does anybody need to stretch? Commissioner Zunica, you all set right now? Okay, good Moving on then to item number six Dr. Lightbound, we have reports on racing and I know that mr. Grossman will be joining you But Dr. Lightbound you got to unmute Can you or do I need to do something? There we go. Okay, excellent So good morning As uh executive director wells Mentioned earlier racing has been moved to phase three. Um, as we all know that uh, covid pandemic And the response to it is very fluid Um, a couple of weeks ago, um, chris mackerelain for penn submitted a draft protocol For reopening that would um incorporate a large part of what the harness horseman had already submitted And it also provided some consistency with what um penn is proposing on the casino side Um, we met again last friday the harness horseman's association members and chris for penn to discuss the plans further Um, and then on monday, we got the news that uh, racing had been moved to phase three So we've been in contact since then as well um, yesterday the department of agriculture resources sent out a, um Covid plan that they had devised and um, we've looked at it done a quick review penn harness horseman's association and I It's similar to the other plans. We've been looking at and um, we'll definitely keep it in mind as we continue to develop a plan Um tomorrow, I've got a couple of internal meetings with hr and legal to discuss Racing onboarding of our seasonal employees and then with the mgc Reopening working group To discuss more along those lines. I want to stress that um, I'm mentioning these meetings, but this is not the first time I've met or talked to members of our commission about this issue these are ongoing discussions that we've been having about what the best ways and best practices are for our own staff and Or developing a plan to work with and and the harness horseman for reopening As we discuss these plans, um, some some of the things that we thought might be important and might work Several months ago, maybe don't apply anymore or Things we've learned more about the virus Or heard of different things from other groups that might be valuable for us. So this is an ongoing process of developing these plans Does the commission have any questions? Um, I I do one out of curiosity and maybe you don't know the answer of Of course as to how this may play out, but when it comes to Some of the racing, uh, the horse people They're uh, they go to a lot of different places Uh, you know throughout the northeast to to to make their livelihood how Do you do envision there might be some restrictions? um From one place to the next some interstate type of travel That might have to be sort of considered in some way Yes, there there might be some states, um have for instance with their, um, jockeys they have very uh, like a closed colony basically and If anybody new is coming in they have whole procedures that they have to go through And it's almost prohibitive of having New people come in obviously that wouldn't work at plain ridge where we do have We rely on people from other states coming in as well as our people from massachusetts for instance, um instead of Having the drivers lounge open, um, if it was a closed colony, um, we'll probably um, at least right now We're looking at just having the um drivers lounge closed recognizing that um, we won't have a Closed population that would be in there every day that it's going to be different people on each race day again, um When we reopen maybe things have changed some or maybe there's different numbers involved And we may be um able to change something like that but for right now. That's something that we're looking at Well, Dr. Lightman, uh, as I understand the processes that comes out of the, um the governor's Advisory board reopening advisory board for each industry. There will be specific guidelines That will be overarching over the industry be overarching for you know restaurants just the guidelines and protocols were just For this phase beginning of phase two, which is I think they're all deciding when that actually will occur and um race tracks were shifted from phase four to phase three last week but as we are There'll be guidelines that will be specific to the casino reopening and I suspect we'll also see guidelines that are specific to the race racing industry so as much as we will be looking at ppcs guidance and the The horse racing community's guidance and our guidance. We will have to Uh comply with that guidance and so in many ways we have to wait for What the um the governor's office will issue for protocols that um are directly related to that industry. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct and obviously, um, you know, uh, the any guidelines would have to not only follow the the state Um requirements, but also the cdc and if the local board of health has their own requirements because that's happened in some states where A track may have met the cdc requirements and their government requirements, but the local board of health had You know their own input and had different things that they wanted. Well, that's actually one of my questions Do we Planeville's um public health have you reached out to them in terms of these issues at all because we do have that as well too Yeah, I have not I don't know if um pen has with the you know casino as well as the racetrack Chris backer lane from um pen is on the line today and Bob mcqueen president of the harness horsemen is on as well if commissioners have questions So those are important conversations to continue with as well because you've All the the other Regulators on the public health side So I just want to make sure that you know everybody understands that we will be informed by all the expertise of the public health And yes decisions that and then in turn I understand that when You um come up with recommendations and I know you'll be working with commissioner cameron and the horse racing community and ppc That you'll come and present to us a plan that we'll be able to reflect on. Yes That sounds right care gail it does and Planeville has been very engaged with uh ppc Both racing and gaming. So I suspect they will continue this engagement when it comes to a real a safe reopening So yeah, they're public health. They'll be probably We'll make sure that happens. But as I said, they are experienced with with the township as they are very very engaged partners Which has been a very helpful thing over the years Can I ask one other question just so that I think I understand it? But I want to make sure I've got it clear in terms of initial steps that are It's not just you know turn on the switch In addition to all that the the horse racing community has to do to prepare their horses to actually come To either a qualifying race or a race What has to happen at the site? And who is responsible for and I know this is a preliminary question We don't need to get into too much in the weeds today. But if in terms of preparation of the track, etc Right. Um Penn will Be in charge of getting the track itself ready and on the barn area on the paddock We do anticipate some changes will be needed to make be made And we'll have to come to the commission with some requests Just to let them know There there may be certain things that we're going to need to do differently because of the covid That we will need to bring in front of the commission to um, you know get approval or at least Let them know that, you know, that's what we're planning on doing We have a few items that were on the agenda from way back on March 3rd Well, I guess it was when we got um Cut off in the commission meeting because of covid And so, you know, those routine things will need to come up for a vote I did assure the harness horseman that Those the commission obviously will Have meetings where those votes can occur And we won't be holding up the opening of the track Because things have not been voted on so And you know, one of the things that we'll need to bring up is is what the actual date for reopening The track will be, you know, when qualifiers will start and then when the actual Opening of the race track will be And if I could just add to that Dr. Lightbaum The racing officials at Penn National and the harness horseman association of each taking the initiative to really explore best practices So each of them are really concerned You know, whether it be the commission or pen or The association very very much interested in Health and safety for everyone involved. So it's been nice to see that engagement by all three stakeholders And so I think the next phase will be okay. What are the final plans and educating everyone as to what those plans are? So Dr. Lightbaum you I haven't asked you one question in which you didn't know A track that was already doing it or are there some lessons learned over here or watching this closely So I do appreciate your efforts as well as the other stakeholders to really Dig in and educate and try to put the health and safety Needs in the forefront for this to be successful Yes, and as we've worked on our plans, you know, there's the the big categories like wear a mask and and Use hand sanitizer But with racing, there's a lot of different protocols and we've you know Need to drill down on those and see Because there's also with those protocols. There's a lot of human Interaction post-human interaction So that's one of the things we've been looking at is is what are those kind of like touch points and what we can do to minimize That type of post interaction And Dr. Lightbaum as as Noted we are ready to be nimble. We don't we we can convene a meeting, you know with proper notice To be able to address issues as they might unexpectedly arise to the extent we can predict that that's perfect And to the extent, you know, we want to make sure that everybody is heard You know, we did have a successful round table with the three licensees for the casino industry Commissioner Cameron and dr. Lightman. I invite you and and and I know Todd you've been working really closely on these issues To think about whether we should convene a similar kind of meeting to really chew on some of the nuances around public health issues So that we can anticipate to make sure we do get The guidance because we all know we're not the experts commissioner brian I know this is something that you've talked about and I've talked about We want to make sure that we're never voting on a public health decision where we're Born so if it makes sense to convene what was I viewed it as a round table as opposed to Where we had all stakeholders around the table We could do the same for the the racing community if that that would be helpful at this stage, but I I leave it to you to reflect on Yeah, we could certainly do that and I should have mentioned in our meeting last friday. Um, both director wells and director wells and Todd we're both on that call as well And Earlier call But we could certainly and include, you know, especially after our meetings tomorrow. It would certainly be appropriate to have uh commissioner cameron or um, somebody, you know Even if we have a full commission meetings, but I was really suggesting Yeah, to have all of us hear the same thing. That's really um commissioner brian I wanted to allow you to chime in I I mentioned the public health piece because We'd hate to be at a juncture where you're presenting and and have something that we Wish we had more information and we wouldn't be able to vote on in good conscience for show brian No, I agree with that I think that it starts the ball rolling and also makes you realize what you what we don't know in terms of someone Like me who's not as familiar with racing and I wouldn't want to be a hold up on something Unnecessarily, um, so I do think it would be helpful great Let's show the guy. Yes. Are you nodding? You like the idea too? Yeah, I think it's a great idea. I think it's good for the public to know Much like uh, similarly to what we went through A last time with the casinos. I think there's the real Need for for us to talk about it in in a public name Okay, so we'll circle back on that and and organize a similar type of exchange So that we can at least highlight the the more difficult Public health matters and then of course the operational issues too that we're more familiar with I just want to acknowledge that Our colleague brian Fitzgerald. I see him. I just I'm going to give you a wave brian is the uh chair of the first facing committee And uh yesterday had a public Meeting and which I attended so I just want to Say thank you for joining us visually. There are many colleagues on I think we have over 130 people joining but your face popped up So I just want to say hello Um, and of course, madam chair. Can I just ask uh director life on a quick question? I think I probably already know the answer to this She and I had a chance to catch up earlier this week and It's always greatly appreciate her her leadership and being our go-to person on everything racing Alex is it is it safe to assume that other? kind of pre-opening precautionary safety steps that we have taken Such as having somebody come in and review the addition, you know, the condition of the track is still going to be part of the the plan before opening Yes That was the only condition. I believe we put on the license this year was that they do the um Pre-opening inspections. So yes, they're and they're still planning on doing that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair Yeah, so all of the Regular operational requirements at any conditions that were established before coveted have to be addressed too So that in the regular course of your work Dr. Lightban takes a good deal of coordination So I think my point around maybe getting convening is so that we We don't want to hold up progress with any unexpected questions. So um, I'll work with Karen And You Alex to see how we can coordinate it an hour long special public meeting where we can get all voices around our virtual table That will be great. Thank you. Okay. Excellent. Okay. Good. Um anything further dr. Lightban No, just Reiterating that it is a fluid situation and um, you know that we're Trying to keep abreast of all the different things that are going on with cova down with different Agencies and what they're recommending And while the governor has said that each phase is expected to be no less than three weeks We just we really don't know what base what date there's no date certain. It's data driven. So Um, we'll continue to operate on those assumptions to no date certain All right, excellent. Um, then turning over now, you'll be working with Todd on the next issue Mr. Grossman Thank you, madam chair and good morning everyone If I may I just want to take one second to thank everyone for the thoughtful comments and perspectives on the matters Facing us in our nation that what is most certainly a pivotal time Um in our history. So thank you for that The proposal before you to amend 149.04 Is here before you at the request of the horse racing committee which reviewed the language as the chair referenced that it's meeting yesterday There is actually one area that needs a little bit of modification and we'll get into that momentarily But as the chair also referenced we're joined here today by brian phitch jerald who is the chair He's uh three over and four down on my screen. I'm not sure If everyone can see him If you haven't met brian brian is an attorney With offices in east lung meadow. He's the gubernatorial appointee To the committee and he's doing really tremendous work for us And I just wanted to thank him for joining us here today and for all of his efforts I also if I may just wanted to thank the other members of the committee who are also really spending a lot of time Um on the matters that are before you here today and have done really great work peter colberg Emily katuna who is the representative from the treasurer's office Joe savred savage And of course our own commissioner gale cameron who spends a lot of time On this matter as well. And of course, I'd be remiss if we didn't thank dr Lightbound who's really the backbone of our whole racing regulatory operation So thank you to everyone For all of your great work here This matter Has come before you as I said at the request of the committee The committee has requested that the commission adopt this proposal by emergency If enactment can be done Responsibly and comfortably to each of you This would allow for any adjustments to the split to be in place relatively Contemporaneous with the possible commencement of the racing season at plain ridge park And I'd be happy to to walk through just the proposal And address any questions or we can start And I would certainly invite brian and alex to join me By discussing the process of the governance of the fund itself If that would be helpful because really the amendments pertain to the racehorse development fund distribution process So if it would be helpful i'm certainly prepared to Do a little background On the fund there's a there's some background in the memo that was submitted as part of the commissioner's packet but If if that would be helpful again, we can start by just talking about the fund First before we start Todd I thought the memo was excellent. And thank you very much Helpful background for me So laid out the the regular what the implications are for the regular thing I'm happy always to hear Any for the background on this facing matters commissioner brian? Do you agree? Should we it would I would benefit Please excellent. I'm happy to do that and of course welcome Again alex brian and commissioner cameron to make any clarifications or Corrections as as we go through this So the racehorse development fund is established in chapter 23k at section 60 Which by the way also created the horse racing committee that's all contained in that one section of the statute And the fund itself is made up of monies received from a number of different sources But it primarily comes from the the daily assessments based on gross gaming revenues From the gaming licensees it includes the well known nine percent assessment on ppcs Gross gaming revenues under section 55c of chapter 23k And it also includes two and a half percent of the 25 percent tax on the gross gaming revenue From the category one licensees and that's under section 59 2l The commission is the administrator of the fund and directed to distribute the available monies in the fund between the two Breeds which are of course thoroughbreds and standard breads In section 60c says that the funds must be distributed As follows that 80 percent essentially of the funds go to fund purses for live races 16 percent go into the respective breeds breeding programs as approved by the commission And four percent goes to fund health and pension or health and welfare benefits For members of the horsemen's organizations, and there's a little more description in the statute as to what that can cover as well As for the actual decision making process section 60 says that and I have a couple of quotes here the Horse racing committee shall make recommendations on how the funds shall be distributed between thoroughbred and standard bred racing facilities To support the thoroughbred and standard bred horse racing industries under the section The committee shall submit distribution recommendations to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives Not later than 30 days before submitting the recommendation to the commission for final approval It's important to pause at this point and note that when it comes to adjusting the regulated split though The statute says that The commission shall only change the distribution percentage upon a recommendation by the committee So the commission is not Empowered to on its own change the distribution percentage Without a recommendation and just to be clear The distribution percentage That's referenced in the statute is what's colloquially been referred to as the split or determining the split The word split doesn't actually appear in the statute, but that's what it's it's commonly referred to So the distribution percentage is what we mean Or split is what we mean by distribution percentage So the as far as the past practice in the present Regulation or concern To date when determining the split the committee has recommended to the commission one overall percentage By which all of the available monies in the fund would be split And that split is presently set at 65 percent to the standard bred interest and 35 percent to the thoroughbreds As of some point last year was actually 60 40, I believe, but then it was adjusted to 65 35 The commission adopted regulations That codify this statutory split process And those are located at 205 cmr 149.04 paragraph four and those are the ones that are before you here today Those regulations direct that the distributions be conducted in accordance with the present Fashion and one overall percentage Be established Uh, I just pause at this point and note that I believe that the present approach is entirely appropriate It's wholly consistent with the language of the statute. There's nothing wrong with it At all, however, with the benefit of experience And given the present circumstances that are confronted by the horse racing industry in general The committee has expressed an interest over the course of many meetings and discussions Um In determining the distribution percentage in a similar but alternative method Which is also in my opinion consistent with section 60 So where the regulation only permits distribution In accordance with the present method The a modification of the regulations by the commission is required if this new approach Is to be used And so I'll I'll get now A little bit into what the new approach is versus the old approach Unless there are any questions we can Move into that So under the the new approach instead of again determining one overall percentage by which all available funds will be split between the breeds The committee would make individual split recommendations by categories and recall by categories I mean the purses the breeding and the health and welfare The way I've looked at it if this is helpful is that we're essentially reversing the order of operations In crafting the split recommendation Instead of determining the percentage of split between the breeds first And then dividing the available monies in the fund into the three categories We would be splitting the available monies in the fund up into the three statutory categories first In accordance with the 80 16 4 percentages and then determining the split percentage between the breeds within each category So for example, there would be one percentage for the purses one percentage for breeding And one percentage for the health and pension benefits And by untethering the individual categories from one another The approach will afford the committee and ultimately the commission A greater ability to direct funds in theory To the respective breeds based upon specific factors and establish criteria With increased precision and that's one of the other things that the committee looked at yesterday was what the criteria would be in applying Each of these a split to each of the three categories It's important to note because this came up on a number of occasions as I discussed this proposal with folks from With different interests, frankly That the exact same number of actual dollars in the aggregate would be distributed within each of the three statutory categories That is to say that 80 of all the money available in the fund would still go to purses 16 will still go to the breeders programs and four percent will still go to the health and pension benefits However, the amounts distributed to a particular breed within a category may be adjusted Based upon specific conditions that are considerations related to that category So that's a kind of a backdrop as to the fund and the process that's used to make the determinations Um, I'd be happy to pause here to address any questions The next thing I wanted to get into otherwise was just the actual proposal The actual regulations Yeah, thank you. Um, that's a great, uh, I would also Echo that the way you lay out the issue in the memo is very well done As you just did as well now with the summary Um, I This is a question slash comment That might fall in the category of background, but my recollection is that When we issued the original regulation Again, which might be needed to be amended Given given what you just explained My recollection is that there was there was not a contemplation of these alternatives at the time We simply read the statute and as as you know the methodology that we that you just explained First the split and then, you know, it flows to the different funds So there was no Point or counterpoint Back then until now As to whether one method was better than the other There was not a contemplation of any alternative methods And I think that's an important background As we now ponder The the notion of maybe changing the regulation to Accommodate the the wishes of the committee Commissioner, I think I I can answer that fast since I've been part of the committee Since 2013 You're absolutely right There was both the committee and the commission at that time never contemplated another way of Splitting those monies and it's not until we've taken testimony and we see written comments and that we realize that Changes could affect certain groups in particular health and pension benefits was a real issue those are folks who have been you know, waiting for thoroughbred racing to come back and Surviving on small amounts of money and other other medical benefits that were afforded to them So we did receive a lot of the committee did testimony As well as written correspondence comments and the committee discussed these issues at length Um and said well, is there another way to look at this and um attorney Grossman was good enough to listen to committee members and and take a look and come back with With a way of doing this differently and um the committee You know, we have been talking about it for months, but actually Got a chance yesterday to review the draft review the needs of this industry and does this make sense And uh, there was a unanimous unanimous vote among the among the committee members to move forward in this direction um As well as do it in an emergency fashion because people are hurting and this was a way to have some Some certainty people would know what they'd be getting in each category And be able to plan accordingly and use those finances quickly So that that was the rationale Yeah, thank you commissioners Zunaga. It's it's an important point to make and that's why I always just like to point out That there's absolutely nothing wrong with the way it's been done up to this point It it is an obvious read of the statute to do it the way it's been done But when we took a closer look at it and thanks to uh to brian for this We saw that there was another way to do it too and it's been my opinion and and others as well that the statute Permits either approach and so That's that's what brings us here ultimately today is because the regulation is written in such a way as it only allows the way I read it the the first approach and not the second approach And ultimately in a nutshell what the proposed amendments do is just allow For either approach It doesn't say the commission or the committee have to do one or the other and it just allows for either And if I may I'll just kind of go into the the changes. Yes Can I just do before you go into the Particular changes a couple broader questions unless my fellow commissioners do you have questions? Just before we get into the actual language um I I did see the vote yesterday and it's my understanding that all five members Support this. I think mr. Savage abstained. I'm not sure if I understood why he abstained. I think that he has issue with an interpretation that was somewhat Related That he expressed his overall support on behalf of the thoroughbred association So you do have the full support of And I'm looking at both the commissioner Cameron and chair I was going to correct myself madam chair when I was thinking about the vote It was it was for with one abstention but support But because of another matter decided not to vote in the affirmative But all of them voted support to support. So we we know that all have been heard Two more questions then Assuming this gets voted through and we are you know, we really are just fixing our own regulation to actually reflect the statute Because what we've done is we've limited the statute's application through this regulation. So it's I feel it's important for us to Make this this correction is really what it is and I think you acknowledge as a technical correction but I want to make sure I understand the implications of of What's happening? Are any of these funds shifting to an escrow account? That were not an escrow account before No, this amendment that's it's an excellent point and one that I definitely wanted to focus on and this is a great time to do it This amendment these amendments would not Shift any monies. They would not change the split. They wouldn't do anything along those lines They simply in my estimation allow the committee to make a recommendation and then the commission ultimately to approve it To change to perform the split in a different way The escrow issue is is a different issue. It is embedded in these regulations, but we're not touching any of that language And that might be something you want to take up separately in the near future But that is not being impacted at all by these amendments okay, um, and then when Assuming that this goes through and then the shift occurs I understand that then within each of the three subcategories. There would be a decision with the Under uh, chair Fitzgerald and commissioner Cameron's rules on the racing committee. There would be um division of those subcategories It then has to come to the commission. Is that correct Todd and if it comes before us Do we actually have discretion or do we simply say? Okay, that's approved. There's already been a proper process. You know that we understand that fits the statute Commissioner Cameron, did you want to respond to that? Um, well, yeah, I saw you. I thought if you're really no no if you wanted me to I'd be happy to take it It's the leaning end thing. It's hard to read. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's certainly the latter meaning There isn't a discretion to change But there is if if something isn't done properly and or not fully explained certainly the commission could send it back for more work Something along those lines if you want to give a more legal definition Attorney Grossman go ahead. No, that was excellent and I agree 100 percent so the commission couldn't change the percentage or On its own initiative say we're we're taking this up and we're changing the percentage or anything It has to come from a recommendation by the committee So as commissioner Cameron said if they sent you percentages And you felt that they weren't justified or that it wasn't clear how they reached those Decisions you could send it back with instructions that they revisit something or you voice your discomfort with Whatever the decision was and the committee could Take it up again recalling, of course that there is ad present a split in place. It's 65 35 So if it's not changed that would just remain So But to your point Madam chair It is really incumbent upon the committee in the first instance to make a recommendation Before the commission can really take any affirmative action Thank you commissioner sonica can I um Mention and ask a question Just to clarify I'm generally in favor of changing the the regulation. I think if we were writing it today We should write it the way he is written now with its modification to be more flexible to allow for either way But um, I just want to recall a situation of a prior recommendation I'm not suggesting that's the case now, but I You recall that there was a change in the split that came one year. I forget exactly which one But it was a retroactive Recommendation which only meant if we were able to deal with it, but only meant that certain flow of monies had to be suspended For a period of time in order to catch up with And make up for the actual split Is there anything in In this regulation that now changes that or make sure or we would we just know from now from then That any kind of retroactive Uh recommendations would have to be dealt with During a period of time in order to be able to catch up Um, I think I can jump in here as well. No, this does not contemplate any kind of a retroactive This committee we're a full the reason we were forced to do that in the past is we we did not have a full committee In particular, we were um on a couple of occasions. We lacked a chair And that we did not think that was fair to move forward with the work without a chair So we and there were another member meant uh missing at one point also so we um We were forced to do our work later than we would have liked to And thus the retroactive This committee and the chairs is on Really feel strongly about doing the work. We're a full committee doing the work in a timely manner So we've worked really hard to to get this um done in advance of uh Racing so there would be no need for uh retroactive monies, which creates other problems And again, they're they're assaultable. It just means that, you know Well, yeah, but it isn't it wasn't ideal. We recognized that we were looking for fairness But it did create other issues. So I I know I'm encouraged that this committee is willing to work in a timely fashion And get this done and we have a plan to do that this year And that commissioner zuniga and commissioners is is really the driving force behind the emergency part of the request is that Given the Phase three designation And of course, it's ultimately a matter that the commission will have to address but The perspective opening in phase three of the racetrack In order to get the updated splits in place the committee would have to get started with its work reviewing The criteria and applying the criteria and get the recommendation It has to go to the legislature for 30 days and then it has to come to the commission So in order to get this all done and we're moving very quickly I think it's fair to acknowledge that we're moving way quicker than we ordinarily would with something like this But I think if you're comfortable that we can do it responsibly And I think the committee feels like it it can do its part of its work responsibly This quickly that that's really the driving force behind the emergency request Is to avoid the retroactive piece of the puzzle Well, I'm in favor of it. I think As I mentioned, I think it's it's it's appropriate. I'm also in favor of doing it by emergency And I think there's an embedded notion in the statute relative to deference to the work of the committee I've attended At least one recently of those meetings and I've kept appraised of the developments Of that committee that that commissioner Cameron and many others are also part of So, um, I'm quite comfortable moving forward Yeah, um, madam chair just to jump in I echo commissioners Zuniga's comments And appreciate the work of the chairman Fitzgerald and commissioner Cameron. Um, I have never been a big fan of uh The instances where we found ourselves With the retro activity piece. Um, I understand why but uh, we understand that people were in ostensibly hurt When we when we did that so I'm Happy to support moving this forward on an emergency basis. So We avoid that and to commissioner Cameron's point try to help out some people that have been hurting in the process Todd, I know that I think you wanted to maybe walk us through the actual changes I don't know if Michael commissioners feel that's necessary. Um, although If there's certain points you want to highlight commissioners, would you like that commission on brian? I would I would leave it to Todd's discretion the discussion We just had particularly I mean we're the reason for the emergency request clarified things for me, but Todd I'd leave it to your discretion if you want to go into more detail No, I think I mean we can we can kind of leave it where it is if everyone's comfortable Ultimately, I can represent to you the changes are as I said are just designed to allow the committee and the commission to Pursue the new approach. We were careful not to touch other stuff that at some point we may want to touch But we didn't want to go down that road for purposes of this process The I would just point out as was was Reference there the committee itself did open this concept up to public comment in the industry. It was on May 14th Where a number of stakeholders commented on the comment of the notion of doing something like this, although most of their comments were Related to adjusting the split more so than changing the method, but It was something that was open For public comments And and also I would just note that there are representatives of each of the breeds on the Horse racing committee as as you're aware as well So I think you can comfortably do this all of the interests are represented and did have an opportunity to look at this And of course as you well know If there's anything in need of adjustment down the road, there will be a formal process to follow But I I think I'm comfortable if you all are leaving it there for now Excellent So I think that this is on up for a vote again, we thank Chairman Fitzgerald for joining us today. Um, we have a um, do we have a motion? That Madam chair, I move that the commission approved the small business impact statement for 205 cmr 149.04 racehorse development fund Distributions escrow counts as included in the commissioner's packet Second Thank you. Any questions? Okay, commissioner Cameron. I Mr. O'Brien. Hi Commissioner Zunica. Hi Mr. Stevens. Hi And I vote yes. Thank you five zero shower. Thank you And madam chair if I may I I neglected to thank shara as well because shara is a critical part of the horse racing committee process as well And I apologize for not including you in the list of thank yous earlier But without her, I don't know that we ever would have gathered. I've been able to do any of it So thank you to shara as well for her role and yes Thanks. We never forget shara So thank you and of course dr. Lightman, I'm assuming that I haven't invited your comment But I do see you occasionally nodding with approval. So I'm assuming that you're all set Yes, and like Todd said this allows the new form Of doing the split, but it also if the committee wanted they could still do the old form as well So it's not eliminating anything. It's just adding Exactly. It's in it and it is consistent with the statute. Yes So we also have to vote on the proposed regulation itself. Do we have a motion? Well, Madam chair, I'll I'll move that the commission approved the version of 205 cmr 205 cmr 14904 resource development fund distributions escrow accounts as included in the Commission's packet and authorizes staff to take all steps necessary to begin the regulation promulgation process second Any questions or edits comments We're good excellent Commissioner Cameron. Hi Commissioner O'Brien Hi commissioners Zuniga Hi, mr. Stebbins Hi Yes, thank you. So we're we're on our way With respect to the emergency regulation and wish the horse racing committee Good good luck, and we will continue our process and keep both both groups informed Thank you very much Excellent. Thanks great work again time. The memo was really very very helpful Great chairman Fitzgerald be well. Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you Okay Does anybody need a break it is 10 after 12 and it is um We're on to item number seven. Did I see somebody would like a break? Okay Yeah, I was just going to introduce the notion if we want to break for a little while or or for lunch I don't know how much Well, it is 10 after 12 um I would uh Ask if we could have a a short break because um our schedules are uh Uh expecting us to probably finish up Um, I also think virtuals shouldn't extend too too long So, um, how about a a five minute break and and resume our places so that everyone can stretch their legs Is that sound good? Okay, we will resume. Um, it is now uh 12 12 12 17 Please uh Good afternoon chair and commissioners This the corporate qualifier we have for you today is Keith Arlandmeister. He's a qualifier for mgm springfield Mr. Meister has submitted all of the required forms and complied with all of the ieb's request for supplemental and updated information The ieb conducted its complete protocol for suitability for casino qualifiers And we confirmed financial stability integrity We reviewed litigation history Searched criminal history verified that no prohibited political contributions were made in massachusetts And conducted checks of open source and law enforcement databases as part of this background investigation The team of investigators assigned to this background was trooper david collett of the massachusetts state police gaming enforcement unit And financial investigator matthew jordan Ieb investigators were able to interview mr. Meister on january 7th 2020 at 1 p.m He was interviewed by a teleconference from the massachusetts gaming commission Investigations and enforcement bureau located at 101 federal street 12th floor boston The interview was conducted by the team previously mentioned trooper collett and mr. Jordan Mr. Meister was cooperative and forthcoming in all aspects of the investigation He joined mgm resorts international the parent company of bluetarp redevelopment llc and mgm springfield The massachusetts category one gaming licensee in january of 2019 in the role of a non executive independent director for mgm resorts international Mr. Meister is designated as a non executive director because he is a member of the board of directors who is not in employment with the company Does not own any shares in the company and does not have any monetary relationship with the company except his remuneration Mr. Meister is based out of new york In addition to his position as an independent director for mgm Mr. Meister is the founder managing partner and cio of corvex management, which is an investment firm. He founded in 2010 Prior to founding corvex. Mr. Meister held several overlapping within the icon group of companies These included working for icon enterprises formally known as american real estate partners as the president and ceo of that company from august of 2003 through august of 2010 He also worked for icon enterprises gp, which was formerly known as american property investors Incorporated from august of 2003 through march of 2006 as the president and ceo there In addition he worked for icon partners lp and icon partners master fund lp As a senior investment analyst for both companies from august of 2003 through august of 2010 In addition to his work at icon, mr. Meister also worked for high river limited partnership as a senior investment analyst from june of 2002 to august of 2010 And again worked for icon associates corp from june 2002 to august 2010 He was a senior investment analyst and managing director there and as you'll see there are overlapping dates of employment due to his differing roles Differing parts of the icon group of companies Mr. Meister also worked for jnet ventures as a president from march of 2000 to august of 2001 And for north star capital investments group from september of 1997 january 2000 He was an investment analyst at north star Our background review confirmed that mr. Meister completed his undergraduate studies at harvard college in cambridge massachusetts in 1995 Where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in government Mr. Meister is licensing good standing through the indiana gaming commission the louisiana state police the mississippi gaming commission and the nevada gaming control board Mr. Meister has demonstrated to the ieb by clear and convincing evidence That he is suitable and the ieb recommends that the commission vote to find him suitable as a qualifier for mpm Thank you questions for kate Okay thorough thorough report Both uh today's and your written report So thank you Questions that i see gale Commissioner cameron did you have no questions very clean report very clean Both the investigation and the individual very very well done and no issues at all Well, thank you very much and i'll make sure to pass those compliments onto the team They did the lion's share of the work your tupper and colette and uh, mr. Jordan from the fi team They were both doing their best to join on the call So thank you very much And they may well be on again. I don't see I can't know all the numbers. So thank you Just remind me the number of licenses. He already holds. So he is currently licensed by four other Agencies that we would recognize as being in good standing Questions for kate It's nice to see see you and lovely to see you So thank you You do need a vote today Yes, please Do I have a motion Madam chair, I move that the commission find keith arland meister Non-executive independent director for mgm resorts international suitable as a qualifier for blue tarp redevelopment llc Second So thank you any any further questions comment Very none. Commissioner cameron. I Michelle brian I Prisha zuniga I Thank you and commissioner stephens I Yes, thank you so much Thanks, kate. Thank you all take care. Be well. Thank you. Be well. Thank you Moving on now to an item number eight Derek lennon is our chief financial and accounting officer And he always comes with his team and always acknowledges that all the work that he doesn't do is All the work of all of his team And he always claims that it's always all of their work We know better. We thank Derek for his leadership and I know commissioner zuniga. We're also going to do it on the on our budget discussion and we have Agnes, um, leo is here. Thank you. It's nice to see you agnes And then we also have a dug O'Donnell should be joining us there He is revenue manager agnes of course our finance and budget manager And Derek will have you kick it off as our chief financial and accounting officer Thank you, madam chair and thank you commissioners for having us today. Um We look forward to giving you this update. We wish we could give you our normal package of documentation um, however, we this is a abnormal year as far as operations go And I do want to once again say thank you to everyone not just my team But the whole commission everyone has been helpful in this Commissioner zuniga is going to give us the highlights because he really has been Key in this process. So I think he has some talking points He wants to get to as far as where we are in the process how we got here and then we're All available for questions and answers, but this really has been a great um A collaborative effort to get to where we are and that is not just internally but um, our licensees gave us some great feedback last week and I'll turn it over to commissioners zuniga now There's one point. I know that informant second director wells has been involved. Yes. That's the every step of the way Karen has been Karen has been knee deep in this every step of the way she immersed herself. She's been uh, you know, taking out a lot of The difficult conversations both internally and externally so Her her effort in this it goes Should not go unnoticed And I and I just acknowledge Derek you really have been leading this effort Throughout having to deal with so many external and internal State counters and discussions and questions So I I personally appreciate all the patients that I'm sure I'm speaking on behalf of all my fellow commissioners So thank you for looking for today's discussion and the discussions that we know are scheduled for the future So commissioners in the car Yes, thank you, uh, everybody. Um, thank you, Derek, Karen and chair and everybody Let me just mention that we are generally adhering to the regular Schedule that we would have had were slightly delayed Because of all the unusual circumstances that we all know very well Um, we will we will talk today a little bit about the rough strokes of the draft budget that we will be coming Um, our future shortly in the short term future meeting to vote on um, we anticipate that You know Derek like like in the past will distribute materials Spreadsheets reports And have an opportunity to update Commissioners individually on some of the things and some of the details and comparisons to last year But let me just give you an overview of where we are generally And um, and then, you know, take questions or ask the rest of the team to Expound on when they think where they think that I should um And I'm sorry that there's I'm going to be speaking to numbers And some of us be more visual but bear with me and I'll try to just rise round numbers um for fiscal year 20th The the the year that is ending at the end of this month We had a 28.4 million dollar figure in terms of regulatory costs Uh, two million dollars of indirect costs 3.6 million That would go to the office of the attorney general And 75 000 that would flow to the abcc For a total of 34 million 135 000 Of that of that budget To that we should add a five million dollar assessment of the public health trust fund Which I will speak to separately And that would be the total that was the total assessment anticipated at the beginning of the year and as we have gone through um Through the quarters on the licensees now That uh figure is generally coming down uh to 33.77 million Uh plus the five million dollar assessment Of the public health trust fund Through a series of efforts some of which we have already discussed in prior meetings in trying to contain some costs um that uh That given the recent circumstances we've uh eliminated trouble we have done a number of things relative to Parking and et cetera And so we are projecting that will bring that original budget down from originally anticipated um In the case of the research and responsible gaming figure Something similar is is happening. We even though we make an assessment of five million dollar Um to the licensees as it's required by statute We take out of that fund By virtue of the mo u that we have with With vph This year we did a six point five million To run the programs Like game sense the research Pay for some other costs associated with that area And that overall number uh is projected to go down To six point 28 million at the before the end of this uh of this year Again, this is this has to be Understood in the context of that's not the actual cost to licensees Because the difference between the six point two And and the five million dollar assessment is effectively bringing coming in from The taxes and gaming revenues that some of which flow to the public health trust fund So As we started this process The the process for budgeting for fiscal year 21 We were contemplating What Derek calls and make me, you know maintenance budget Which I think is appropriate Of slightly higher than the prior budget of 35.25 million There are I'm not going to get into the details of some of these What was driving some of the growths. Let's just say some of it was natural some of it was anticipated And we are now in an environment where we have heard from licensees Understand the reality around us and have made efforts to try to Clean the growth and even reduce The burden of our overall budget Now, uh, it's important to remember That that figure when it's total A regulatory cost indirect attorney general's office and abcc we can only control only so much Of those costs Even within the regulatory costs, which are ultimately what we do control There's a lot of fixed costs that we should talk about At least understand conceptually So, um Through efforts again some in recent in a recent meeting But all but some of them also ongoing We are bringing down that figure to or we started Internally between that that that figure to 34 million That meant, um, you know, no build building no races, uh, not no backfilling of certain positions Reduction of travel Reduction in some development of the licensing management system A reduction in some of the grant funding And uh, directing a portion of the salaries of the employees working up on communication fund To that fund like we do in other funds the public health trust fund for example So, um with that budget, uh, we we had a meeting recently with licensees a virtual meeting You know, they have been in person in the past Um, and uh, there's a request For us to continue to consider the the cash flow, um The the old negative cash flow That budgets like this which they understand and they will pay as as it's required But they they request consideration to continue looking at Uh mitigating uh costs where uh were appropriate And and and let me just sort of make a small parenthesis there in in that in that request. It's it's not only the amount There's also a request in considering of on on timing Because also cash flow is very much something that they are looking at on a you know, really on a daily basis Um, and there's a third an important request As well and that is the burden that we place on on them when we conduct the job that we do On under normal circumstances That is not necessarily a budgetary item, but that's something that really came through as part of these These discussions where we can be flexible I think we should really in terms of things that they have to submit they have to do They are operating on their You know, really a skeleton crew in some cases You try to keep their their cash flow top so um those additional uh reductions In in high as i'm highlighting them that come from those conversations Are, um, you know reducing some of the overtime originally anticipated for for the state police Building a more turnover savings For the gaming control fund Reducing some of what the attorney general's office might be Considering from the fiscal year 20th and Essentially not backfilling the majority of the vacant positions Now I should say that If we if we do that we would we would be generally in the 32.3 million dollar overall figure Now as I mentioned you will have the benefit of a spreadsheet a report and a discussion with Derek On on on these details, but I at least wanted to To to keep this overview Let me also mention something else relative to the public health trust fund because the 36 I'm sorry the 32 figure does not include that I as you know are the designated co-chair of that Of that committee We are also contemplating a reduction in funding by virtue of the majority of the money that flows to that fund Would have come from gaming taxes And that is something that is greatly diminished by by the suspension of operations of the temporary suspension and We are contemplating a budget for the for the Massachusetts for the gaming commission's portion Of 4.6 million So you'll remember I gave you a figure of 6.5 That was coming down at the end of this year to 6.2 We're taking that down For the next fiscal year and that has already been approved by that committee down to 4.6. That includes important cuts to the game sense program and research But not to the point where we think we're obliterating the programs because we are assuming that they will They will come back Once the casinos cannot As part of that projection We are assuming that we would Defer the assessment of one quarter Of the five million dollar Amount by at least one one one quarter But we're able to manage that By virtue of the balance that currently sits with the gaming with the public health trust fund And again the reduced amounts that both dph and mgc are going to Are going to operate under the next year so That's the general overview there there is something else That has come up That that I should highlight And that is that the statute talks about and regulations talk about 600 per machine Fee that is imposed on gaming licensees As of july 1 And whenever the machine number changes there would be a proration That would have to be done Now licensees have asked that whether these fee would be payable And depending on whether the situation stands as of july 1 And it's perhaps suffice to say that even if it's not On july 1 and it and operations Being later it would still be up a rated amount Um, I still would like to point out that any relief Um in in terms of this fee Um really results in the balance Being assessed back on licensees Um, and in my opinion, there's not much of a difference But it's something that again they um may have asked it's a topic for discussion that we should all understand um, and it's Essentially upcoming because july 1 will be here soon So that's uh, that's the overview. Um, again, I'm sorry There's no numbers in front of you so that you can go through them There will be and and and I will not be part of that briefing Derek will uh with with you either individually or a two at a time And we'll have a lot of those reports and details or a much Healthier discussion you needed Soon upcoming commission I can take questions or As Commissioners or or stop Yeah, I had one question about um The ago the line item for the ago's office. Have you had conversations with the ago or is that a projection based on the shutdown? It's uh, we've had very brief discussions not me personally, but uh, uh, Derek Agnes Um, relative to the next year Um, they're given the the current spending. I think it's safe for us to say that, you know, we You know the the the figure that I just mentioned Um, maybe some 250 000 reduction for this year is is very doable because They have not encumbered and it's unlikely that in this one Month that's remaining would encumber so much Relative to the spending, but it's by the way, it's not unusual that any agency comes with late incumbents And catches up towards the end of this year, but we're comfortable that that that will be just fine, but I have we have not had any more detailed discussions and that I maybe I should mention that There's there's a statutory limit on the on the On the amount that they They can charge back To us and and and we pay You know through the licensees, of course And and that excludes the state police portion that's assigned to their office Um, but taking into account all of those moving pieces Uh, we're comfortable with the way It's it's playing out. Okay. Thanks Other questions for uh, Derek and Henry gay and team So this is just the beginning of the discussion and and the details will follow. Um, I've had the benefit of being part of many of these discussions Again, I I mentioned Derek's leadership. He's also been speaking with external stakeholders that includes our state partners Our licensees keeping all of us informed all of the all of Karen's team all the directors have been working extensively on Looking at their their piece see how they can be helpful at these extraordinary times. So everybody really has has played a part And I appreciate the licensees meeting and You know so far it's been a very very thorough and helpful process I also have to commend Commissioner Zinica for his leadership in the public health trust fund. He navigates That commission, uh, which is a committee that has formed through an MOU with the department of Public health just under the leadership of health and human services And we very much appreciate that relationship And uh, commissioner Zinica has done a great job navigating that budgetary process, which is no easy feat But he's kept his eyes on what's important in our programs that um, Mark Vanerlinden needs in terms of the public health outreach with Teresa's good assistance great assistance um affects the lives of so many who face a problem gambling or need support to be a responsible gambler so And with you with your help that has also been possible, uh chair Let me just mention that um, we had on on that group Under normal circumstances, uh, you know some healthy tensions relative to allocation of resources Suffice to say with a greatly diminished budget Those those are that much more challenging Right, but commission Zinica has navigated it very very well And it's it's a big piece of the puzzle here. So we thank you um, and and again also Todd you've been a great resource for this as well, but Derek. Thank you. Um, any other questions on the details What is your timing on the For the next steps Derek, can you remind us? Yes, we'll have our traditional, uh, presentation to you at the next commission meeting But you absorb that ask any question put it off a public comment for two weeks And Then we'll ask you to vote at the following meeting So that would be the june 18th. We are contemplating another public Meeting maybe on the 11th So on the 18th, we should get your first report then it will go out the public comment And in between that time we'll have a two by twos So we'll give you two by twos on the before the meeting on the 18th So that you can be prepared to ask any detailed questions We won't revise the documents until after that until after that meeting when you have your detailed questions And one thing I do, you know, I'll be covering in the two by twos is the shift Of putting some salaries to the community mitigation fund It is really just people directly working on it And then there's another discussion about whether we should shift any admin salaries Like we're trying to I think we're shifting away from that but You know, there is a cost allocation plan behind it the same thing we did with racing when we shifted salaries off to that area And You know the other point To to really address on the attorney general's Pieces we do pay their actual costs So our budget up to three million our budget doesn't really matter if they exceed what our budget is We pay the we pay the actual cost So this is just one of those ones of the licensees saying hey, can we can we cut back a little bit? We understand if the cost come in we'll have to pay it But if they don't can we cut back so that our assessment is a little lower? Yeah, and as you um Those are good points and as you um look at and begin to have these discussions with Derek um I'm sure you you'll you'll you'll notice that Anything further from the figures that I outlined require some Some other type of discussion And and that's when I what I mean by fixed costs We have you'll you'll see it's not surprised to anybody That some of the large the largest portion of our costs our salaries um the the subsequent two line items Of our budget are our rent on our central monitoring system And those are long-term contracts that have Very huge implications into how if at all we can we can modify They're they're not it's not out of the realm to to modify and those are things that I believe we need to explore I I actually I you may have Someone mentioned that you know if we we wanted to have a discussion relative to our our rent or lease That's even something that we might be able to do in an executive session But the current and whether we do that or not the current situation of You know the next few months perhaps still being one in which we Operate in remote fashion in some way Might be an important location to really now look at That and that type of cost so Again, you'll have the benefit of a lot more detail than this But I can still take questions Keep Any questions, I don't see any fellow commissioner leaning in at this point I think looking forward to having the two by twos um, I think you decided that two by twos would be most effective rather than a A single silent meeting, but you know that's another tool for you to consider if you if you decide and then we'll For us to be better informed for the 18th Looking forward to the full discussion in terms of the um the rent Perhaps on on the 18th to begin Have Derek comment on decams position with respect to all agencies that are in our position where we have obligations on On with respect to rent while we're working remotely that'd be really helpful Agnes do you have anything to add? No, I don't I'm perfectly happy here Good good. Well, we look forward to hearing the report from you on the 18th and Doug I know we are good on this end Just looking forward to Next year and see what that brings That's great. Well, be safe both of you Derek. Would you like to close out? Just want to say thank you to everyone again. Um, thank you to the whole team commissioners aniga Karen wells Todd agnes Doug everyone that's been involved Your patients with us chair through this process. Um, I know it's been a very difficult year for everyone. We started this in a pretty good economy in january and you know, just The way staff and our licensees have been working through this with us is very appreciative And and it's appreciated by by all involved So thank you and I look forward to having the conversation on the 18th Excellent. Yeah, let me just add my thanks to everybody Derek dog agnes j Jacqueline Karen, of course operating, you know, virtually Required, you know, for the finance team required some some changes and at times back to that meetings and a lot of Virtual signatures, but they're doing a great job And and and I think they'll continue to Thank you All right, then we'll move on to our last item commissioners update Uh, I I reserve time for if you want to provide any further thoughts on Our current state or if you have an update on any of the work that you're engaged on in today We had the excellent report from commissioners cameron and ryan on The sexual harassment policy, which we appreciate. Thank you so much. Mr. Sonica for all your work. Thank you on the budget And then of course we heard too from jill griffin and I know commissioner stephans is so involved with respect to our minority vendors When I say ours the casinos, but we um work very closely with them and admire Jill's leadership. So all of you have made a big difference Every you make a big difference every day regardless of whether we're together In an office or working remotely. So thank you commissioners update She cameron I'm all set. Thank you very much. I got a chance to say a few things earlier. So I am fine. Thank you Okay, thank you commissioner brian No, I think I addressed it when we did the reg hearing. So thank you. Thank you. Krishna Sonica No, thank you very much everybody commissioner stephans Nothing to add just wishing everybody the best and stay safe and healthy That thank you. I need a motion to adjourn, please some new adjourn second Lunchtime already a roll call commissioner cameron. I commissioner brian. I Mission Sonica. Hi. Thank you. Thank you commissioner stephans. Hi. Thank you everybody And I vote yes. Thank you 5 0 everyone be safe appreciate everyone. Thank you