A citizen-initiative petition drive is under way in Maine which would legalize slot machines or a casino in southern York County, with exclusive licensing rights to developer Shawn Scott, who was the force behind racetrack slots being legalized in Bangor.
The citizen initiative and subsequent statewide referendum would authorize the Maine Gambling Control Board to accept applications for a York County casino license, but only “from an entity that owned in 2003 at least 51 percent of an entity licensed to operate a commercial track in Penobscot County.” In other words, Scott, who funded the referendum campaign that ultimately ended up with slots at his Bangor Historic Track, which he later sold to Penn National Gaming.
“The only people that fit that description (in the initiative) is this group—Shawn Scott’s group—that started the Bangor one back in 2003, said Maine Harness Horsemen’s Association liaison Linwood Higgins in an interview with the Portland Press Herald.
The ballot question committee, Horseracing Jobs Fairness, registered the initiative with the Main Commission on Government Ethics on December 16. The committee was formed by Lisa Scott, Shawn Scott’s sister, who contributed $28,000 to the committee, according to the Press Herald.
The bill to authorize Scott’s group to apply for a license would exempt the operator from the state law that prohibits a casino from operating within 100 miles of an existing gaming operation, and would lase the sate limit on the number of registered slots from 3,000 to 4,500.
The proposed language makes no mention of a racetrack being required to operate gaming.
The ballot committee must submit more than 61,000 signatures by February 1 to qualify for a referendum on the November 2016 ballot.
