Maine Governor Janet Mills has defeated an attempt to override her veto of a sports betting bill: LD 553. Although supporters got the votes to override in the Senate, Mills persuaded enough in the House that more time should be given to see how sports betting does in other states.
To override a veto requires a two-thirds vote in both houses. February 11 the House failed to crash that barrier, garnering only 85-57 to override.
Mills issued a statement congratulating the House: “The House of Representatives made the right decision. It is in the best interest of our state to slow down, to understand the evolving experiences of other states, and to use those experiences to better inform our approach to this issue.”
Mills claims sports betting in other states hasn’t brought in promised revenues, and is also concerned about marketing to young people and expanding gaming.
One representative who voted to override, Jeffrey Evangelos, argued that since Rhode Island and New Hampshire have legalized sportsbooks, Maine should too. “The arguments against sports betting are bogus. Many people who struggle economically are nonetheless attracted to the worst bet in town, the Maine State Lottery, including its scratch tickets, where the chance of winning is near zero.
“At least in sports betting, you have a 50 percent chance of winning, the best odds in town,” he said. “The only positive thing I can say about the delay and then the governor’s veto is this: Thank you Governor Mills, you saved me and thousands of other Mainers a bundle because the Patriots lost.”
Once the Senate approved the veto, Governor Mills went into full arm-twisting mode, calling members of her party in the House and asking them to support her. So did lobbyists for the state’s two casinos, the Hollywood Casino Bangor and Oxford Casino, as well as hundreds of employees from the casinos.
The casinos were concerned that the bill allows sports betting providers from out of state to offer sportsbook without working with an existing casino. Which was the rationale for taxing those types of wagers at a much higher rate.
Rep. Scott Strom told LegalSportsReport.com, “I’ve never seen lobbying like this before on any bill. I mean, the governor is working the Democrats trying to get them to sustain, and the casinos are working everybody really hard right now.”
He added, “I’m kind of surprised the governor cares about it this much, but maybe she doesn’t care about the issue as much as not having her veto overrode by her own party.”
The casinos might face a backlash next year for their tactics, said Strom. “There’s so much anger now between some of us at the casinos.”
Senator Scott Cyrway sides with the casinos. He told the Press-Herald newspaper, “Where there’s brick-and-mortar, there’s investment,” noting that the two casinos invested more than $1 billion in Maine and employ more than 1,000 people.
During the debate before the Senate vote, Cyrway said, “Under this legislation, no investment in Maine is required. There’s no limit on licenses, and there’s no requirement that the mobile licenses be tied to an existing facility.”
The legislature approved the sports betting bill last year, but the governor vetoed it last month. It would have allowed betting on sports at racetracks, off-track betting facilities, casinos and Indian casinos. The facilities would have also been eligible to apply for mobile sports betting licenses to offer bets online and through apps. Wagering on college games involving Maine teams, or on high school sports or events where most participants were less than 18 would not be allowed.
The state would have collected 10 percent of gross receipts of retail wagers and 16 percent for mobile wagers.
Bill sponsor Senator Louis Luchini expressed satisfaction that his bill got as much support as it did and he promised to submit more proposals next year. He predicted that eventually such a bill will be passed.
“The big thing is that people are doing this illegally now,” he told the Associated Press. “They’re going to continue to do this illegally. Maine won’t get any taxes from it, and Maine people won’t get any consumer protections.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports betting in May of 2018, 20 states have legalized it. States near Maine that have done so include Rhode Island and New Hampshire, with Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts actively considering bills.
