PLAINVILLE -- Plainridge Racecourse would invest about $130 million in expanding and improv ing its facilities if the state legalizes slot machines at race tracks, Plainridge President Gary Pio ntkowski said Tuesday.

He also said the track would add about 350 employees to the 139 it already has.

Piontkowski said the existing harness-racing facility would be expanded by about 75,000 square feet to accommodate the slot machines.

The addition would cost about $100 million, he said.

Another $25 million to $30 million would be needed to purchase 2,000 slot machines. He said his partners are committed to getting the financing, including a $25 million licensing fee.

The only obstacle, he said, would be if the state wanted to take too much of the slot machine revenue in taxes because that would make financing more difficult and expensive.

But first, the Legislature has to legalize slot machines, and possibly override a veto by Gov. Mitt Romney.

A slot machine bill has already passed the Senate.

Both opponents and supporters agree the House leadership will allow a vote on slots next month after years of blocking it.

The two sides disagree, however, on whether there are the votes in the House to approve the Senate bill.

Piontkowski said newspaper surveys have found that a majority will vote for the bill and slot supporters are close to having enough votes to override a veto.

He said the economic argument in favor of slot machines has become overwhelming.

Studies have found that Massachusetts residents are spending $1 billion a year gambling in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Those states are reaping the benefits of what Massachusetts residents are spending, Piontkowski said. `` I think it is pretty simple. We're betting it and they're getting it,'' he said.

Legislators, mayors and selectmen want to start recouping that money for Massachusetts, he said.

But, state Rep. Daniel Bosley, a key opponent of legalizing slot machines, said the studies Piontkowski and others cite are flawed and illogical.

Bosley, D-North Adams, concedes that slot machines at Plainridge will probably cause less Attleboro-area residents to go to Lincoln Park in Rhode Island.

But, he said most of the gambling in New England is going on at two casinos in Connecticut.

Those casinos offer shopping, concerts, nightclubs, and all forms of table games and poker, in addition to slot machines.

Slot machines alone are not going to bring back the money spent at Connecticut casinos, he said.

`` The high rollers don't play the slots. And the high rollers don't want to stay close to home,'' he said.

Furthermore, Bosley said Massachusetts residents only have so much disposable income.

If they start spending more on slot machines, they will have less to spend at restaurants, movie theaters and other forms of entertainment.

`` It doesn't create additional economic activity,'' he said.

Slot machines at racetracks have also failed to help the horse and dog racing industries, he said.

Lincoln Park took in $136 million in bets on dog racing in 1993, the year Rhode Island legalized slot machines. The handle was down to $31 million in 2003, he said.

Bosley also said slot machines could hurt the state lottery, which is the prime sources of revenue for funding city and town services.

State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, whose district include Plainville, where Plainridge is located, said the Senate bill protects the lottery.

He said the bill calls for any loss in revenue to the lottery to be `` back filled'' from proceeds from the slot machines.

The issue, he said, is that Massachusetts is `` on the outside looking in'' when it comes to slot machines, and it should start competing with neighboring states.

State Rep. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham, who also represents Plainville, said he has noticed a change in attitude among House colleagues in favor of slot machines.

He said he has been told there will be a vote next month, but he has not been personally promised by House Speaker Sal DiMasi that there will be.

Although prospects are looking good, he said a tangled fight over simulcasting at race tracks late last year taught him that anything can happen when it comes to the racing industry.

JIM HAND can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.