Maine’s Government Oversight Committee of the legislature voted unanimously last week to investigate the Question 1, Progress One campaign that seeks voter approval for a casino in York County, a casino that only one man would be qualified to open.
The GOC joins the Maine Ethics Commission, which several weeks ago began investigating the source of more than $4 million in the campaign, which is being led by Shawn Scott, a controversial casino developer.
GOC Chairman Senator Roger Katz says his committee wants the public to know as much about the Question 1 campaign, and what would actually happen if the voters approve the initiative this November. Katz said he will use government resources to compile as much information about the initiative and its principals and make them public.
Senator Bill Diamond told Maine Public, “It’s been pretty much behind the scenes. The legislature’s talked about it in committees, but it really hasn’t been talked about for the public to take part in. The purpose of this public hearing, public discussion, is to bring all of this to the forefront.”
Opponents of the Progress One campaign, who haven’t launched their own organization, would undoubtedly have access to this data. Likely funding sources for a “no” campaign would be Penn National Gaming, which owns Hollywood Slots in Bangor and Churchill Downs, which operates the Oxford County Casino.
The commission’s investigations have run into resistance as it seeks to determine the connection between the campaign and several offshore funding sources, all of which have connections to Scott, whose business is based in the U.S. Marianas.
In 2002 Scott successfully led a campaign that persuaded voters to authorize Maine’s first casino, in Bangor. Because of ethical investigations, Scott sold his interest to Penn National Gaming for $52 million. Nevertheless, he has been sued several times over his gaming efforts in the U.S. and in Asia.
Last year Scott and associates unsuccessfully sponsored an initiative in Massachusetts that would have authorized a slots parlor near Boston. Bay State election regulators fined that campaign more than $125,000 for efforts to hide its donors. That same names that were involved in that effort appear to be coming up in the Maine campaign.
Scott has hired the same Washington D.C.-based public relations firm that successfully pushed the Brexit vote last year in Great Britain.
As Shawn Scott has become more the public face of the campaign, his sister, Lisa Scott, who was the official head for several months, has moved out of the light. Last week she announced that she’s stepping down and will return to Miami, Florida.
In a statement, she said that her involvement “has become a distraction from the real issue at hand: Construction of a facility that will provide the residents of Maine with new economic growth, jobs, and funding for K-12 education and other vital programs.”
The commission has subpoenaed Lisa Scott’s bank records and correspondence she had with donors and PACs involved with the campaign. At first it appeared that she was the sole funder. Under pressure she revealed other funding sources, most connected to her brother.
