Pro-Casino Group Accepts Challenge To Debate

A casino-funded group hoping to defeat November's ballot question to repeal the state casino law says it will debate its opponents.

The Committee to Protect Mass Jobs, which is financed by MGM Resorts and Penn National Gaming, said Wednesday it is "committed to participating in a vigorous debate" on the question. But the political action committee stopped short of agreeing to the terms opponents propose.

Repeal the Casino Deal, an anti-casino group, earlier Wednesday called for a series of "independent, media-sponsored" debates between the group's chairman, leading state lawmakers and executives from Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International and Penn National Gaming.

The challenge came hours after Wynn and state gambling regulators finalized a license for a $1.6 billion casino outside Boston.