Maine lawmakers Rep. Louis Luchini and Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, are getting creative as they try to find a way to undo a casino initiative that has been placed on the November ballot using means that both men feel were underhanded and fraudulent.
Their solution is to circumvent the process by following the letter of the law, which allows the legislature to take a proposal out of the hands of the voters—by passing it. And then immediately repeal it.
This is a bipartisan effort of legislators frustrated by the dodgy methods that proponents of a third Maine casino used to gather signatures and camouflage who was behind the campaign. They are also infuriated that the initiative was written in such a way that only one person, the proponent, would be qualified to apply for the license to operate the casino, which would be located in York County.
Critics of this approach point out that nothing will prevent proponents of a third casino from coming back and trying again, and again, until they win. Some are suggesting that the best way to combat this is for the legislature to adopt a framework for the creation of additional casinos, which would force future developers to use that process.
Such attempts have failed in the past due to opposition from those who oppose any casino expansion. However, the state’s existing casinos, in Oxford and Bangor, support such an approach because they don’t want any more competition.
