Maine Governor Janet Mills, May 2 signed a bill into law that gives the state’s tribes exclusive control of online sports betting. It also reduces tribal taxes and creates a framework for more collaboration on expanding tribal sovereignty.
Maine’s two land-based casinos, the Hollywood Casino and the Oxford Casino, off-track betting facilities, and racetracks may operate retail sportsbooks under: LD 585. It goes into effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends.
LD 585 has three parts. The first creates a tribal state collaboration, which says the governor and tribal leaders should meet annually and creates liaisons between tribes and departments. The second part creates tax exemptions for certain incomes and persons. The third piece is specific to online and sports betting.
Mills declared, “This law provides meaningful economic opportunities for the Wabanaki Nations. It incentivizes investment in tribal communities, and it formalizes a collaboration process on policy that sets the foundation for a stronger relationship in the future.”
Because of the convoluted nature of the law, it may be almost two years before sports betting actually occurs.
“Maine is not Las Vegas; Maine is not Atlantic City. But that doesn’t make it lesser of a regulatory responsibility on my part, and so I’m going to make sure we get things done correctly,” said Milton Champion, executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit, the state’s regulatory body.
Champion said he would consider the experience of other states.
“If (another state’s) law is particularly close to ours, I may venture in and take a look at their rules and see what they’ve done,” he said. “Obviously, we’re a little late in the game here in Maine, so I’m hoping to have lesser hiccups than other states have had.”
But Champion believes Maine is so unique it might take a while to get it right.
“Depending on that response and the pushback and how detailed that is, I may have to go back to the drawing board, republish new rules, have another hearing, or at least a 30-day time frame for written comment,” Champion said.
The law did not come close to satisfying tribal aspirations for sovereignty such as other states’ federally-recognized tribes enjoy. They had sought the passage of LD 1626 to alter the status quo that was created by the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1980. That Act of Congress treats the Wabanaki tribes—Penobscot Nation, Passamaquoddy tribes at Indian Township and Pleasant Point, Houlton Band of Maliseets and Mi’kmaq as municipalities subject to state law rather than sovereigns equal to the state.
During a testimony to lawmakers, Penobscot Indian Nation Chief Kirk Francis said the Settlement Act hobbles the tribe’s ability “to provide services to our people, create an economy that benefits our community and those around us, and excluded us from many federal laws intended to benefit tribal nations.”
Governor Mills opposes LD 1626. She promised to veto the sports betting bill she herself negotiated and supported, if lawmakers had insisted on passing both. She wrote to tribal and legislative leaders: “I do not wish to have a confrontation. It would serve no constructive purpose and only inflame emotions on all sides of the discussion.” Still, the legislature will return to work on May 9, and some would like to revive the bill.
The tribes issued this statement: “Permanent sovereignty restoration remains the legislative priority for the Wabanaki Nations, and it will continue to be our priority moving forward.”
They wrote a separate letter to Mills and legislative leaders. “Time is on our side,” they wrote. “Our people have lived with the negative consequences of the settlement act for over 40 years. However, we have made more progress in our sovereignty restoration efforts in the past four years than we did in the previous several decades.”
Mills offered the sports betting bill as half a loaf in lieu of full sovereignty. She prefers to improve the lot of the tribes through small, incremental steps. Such as LD 906, which allows the Passamaquoddy Tribe to seek alternate forms of groundwater on the reservation without state approval, or amending the Settlement Act to give some tribes the authority to prosecute domestic violence cases against non-tribal members in tribal courts. She has also led the enactment of legislation changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Mills and the tribes negotiated for many months. Although it is true that Maine’s tribes remain uniquely unsovereign compared to other states, it is also true that Maine now is one of just a few states that have a formal tribal-state collaboration process in place.
The law also finally gives the tribes an entrée into gaming, something they have unsuccessfully sought for 40 years.
