A committee of the Maine legislature has voted to put a proposal for a resort-style casino in the southern part of the state before the full legislature.
The Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted 8-3 to give lawmakers a second chance in two years to vote on the controversial issue. Supported by the harness racing industry, led by the Maine Harness Horsemen’s Association, Ocean Properties and the building company Cianbro, it is opposed by the Oxford Casino in Oxford and the Hollywood Casino in Bangor, owned by Churchill Downs and Penn National Gaming.
The bill is similar to a bill that failed to gain traction in 2015, although it has been amended to raise the license fee for a casino from $25 million to $50 million. Revenues from gaming tables and slots would be divided between veterans organizations, the racing industry, the community hosting the casino, the cities where casinos already exist and schools, among other programs.
The large number of recipients encourages special interests that might support the bill.
Senator Scott Cyrway, who called himself a reluctant supporter, according to the Press Herald, said “I’m not so big on casinos, especially a third or fourth one. But it’s a business and we need business here in Maine.”
At the same time a Las Vegas-based casino developer, Shawn Scott, has been gathering signatures for an initiative aimed at the November ballot to allow a casino resort in York County. The measure would need 61,123 qualified signatures to qualify. The campaign turned in the petitions last week and state officials are now counting and certifying the signatures. The measure is so closely worded that only Scott would be able to apply for the casino license in York County.
If it is certified the bill that is now being discussed in the legislature could share the ballot with it, since the option of putting the casino resort before the voters is also being discussed.
This becomes more likely given Governor Paul LePage’s previous statements that the voters must approve any gaming expansion. He has also said that the state currently has enough casinos, and so might veto the bill.
Further complicating the issue is the fact that the state’s Indian tribes have several times asked to be allowed to open casinos on their reservations in Aroostook County or Washington County only to be turned down by the legislature, most recently last year.
The legislature two years ago paid for a study by WhiteSand Gaming that said the state could support a third casino, as long as it was small, no more than 250 slots and ten gaming tables.
