NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) – A hotel developer buying the Newport Grand slot parlor is pushing to change the state’s 10-year master contract with the gambling facility, according to a report published Sunday.

The Cranston-based Procaccianti Group is promoting legislation that would extend the contract for five years, according to the Newport Daily News.

Details of the proposed changes were not immediately available, and even the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Henry C. Rose, D-East Providence, said he did not know the bill’s contents, according to the report.

Rose said he was asked to sponsor the legislation by the buyer’s lobbyist, William Farrell. Normally, when lawmakers introduce legislation, they submit an outline to legislative lawyers of what they would like to do. The lawyers then draft the appropriate legal wording.

In this case, Rose said, Farrell submitted the bill’s outline directly to staff lawyers, the newspaper reported.

The Procaccianti Group is buying Newport Grand, one of two state-sanctioned gambling halls in Rhode Island, for $155 million and plans refurbish it to cater to higher-income customers. Recent studies showed the slot parlor had been losing business.

Acquiring the slot parlor is one part of a larger 64-acre redevelopment dubbed O2 Newport, a title that incorporates the chemical symbol for oxygen. Plans for the site call for condominiums, a luxury hotel, restaurants and commercial space. Other amenities include an indoor skating rink, soccer facilities and an aquatic center.

The deal comes as Newport attempts to renovate its north end. A new branch of the Community College of Rhode Island has been built there, and a former housing project has been demolished. A former Navy hospital nearby could be declared surplus property by the federal government, freeing up 30 waterfront acres for development.

Newport Grand has an agreement with the state government to add 800 video slot machines in return for making about $20 million in improvements. Revenue from video slot machines at Newport Grand and Twin River, formerly Lincoln Park, generate about 7.5 percent of the state’s annual revenue, or roughly $255 million.

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Information from: The Newport Daily News

AP-ES-06-03-07 1858EDT