The Maine Senate last defeated a bill that would have authorized a 0 million Las Vegas style resort casino in the southern part of the state on a narrow vote of 18-16.
The House defeated the bill 83-16 the week before. Governor Paul LePage had said he wasn’t enthusiastic about the bill, although he did not threaten to veto it.
The state’s two existing casinos, the Hollywood Casino in Bangor and the Oxford Casino, fiercely opposed the bill. Lawmakers representing districts near or encompassing those cities opposed the bill while lawmakers in the southern part of the state favored it.
Deb Neuman, president and chief executive officer of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce told WCSH Portland, “More casinos in the state don’t necessarily mean more customers. More likely what will happen is that the existing customers, who are now coming to Hollywood Casino, may go elsewhere. Because they will have more options to choose from. So that’s a big concern.”
The main support came from the state harness racing industry and Ocean Properties. A similar bill was introduced and died last year.
The bill would create a bidding process that would allow developers to vie to build a casino in York or Cumberland counties. Any such casino would be subjected to a countywide vote.
A separate and unconnected effort by a Las Vegas casino developer to put a measure on the ballot to allow a casino in the southern part of the state failed after the Secretary of State’s office invalidated tens of thousands of signatures.
