Maine lawmakers who have worked during the current legislative session on expanded gaming will hand off research on expanding gaming in the state to their successors who will begin work in January.
Outgoing members of the joint Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee passed along their work, including a $150,000 study that recommended authorizing one and possibly two more casinos in the state. Some of the committee members could be reappointed to the committee in January.
Maine’s only casinos, the Hollywood Slots casino in Bangor and the Oxford casino, hotly contest that recommendation. Lawmakers in 2014 resisted adopting any of five bills that would have allowed more gaming. But they did authorize the study completed a few weeks ago by WhiteSand Gaming.
Besides recommending a casino in the south and the far north, the WhiteSand report said that any more than that would be likely to cannibalize the two existing casinos. It also urged picking the new casinos by competitive bid.
It also recommended charging a license fee of $100,000 per slot machine and tax profits at 35 percent.
Legislators are mixed in their reaction to the report. Rep. Diane Russell said she would support more casinos only if they would help the state’s agricultural fairs and harness racing industry. “The only reason we are even considering this is because of the direct impact on the harness-racing industry,” she said.
Senator John Patrick said he is concerned about the issue of cannibalizing the existing casinos. He said his reading of the report is that the Oxford Casino could lose 20 percent of its revenue if a southern casino was added to the mix.
Rep. Wayne Mitchell, a non-voting member representing the Penobscot Nation, said he would fight any expansion of gaming that doesn’t allow Maine’s tribes to offer casino gaming. He said his tribe’s high stakes bingo games have been harmed by the addition of the Oxford Casino.
“I’ve got two more years left in this Legislature and then I retire — and I’m looking forward to that day — but I’ve got enough fight left in me for this next two years,” he said. “Look out Hollywood Slots.”
John Patrick, a member the committee declared, “There’s no right and there’s no wrong answer; it’s the answer that we’re going to be able to come together on for the betterment of the people of the state of Maine.”
Rep. Jonathan Kinney, also of the committee, said, “The state could afford it in that the casinos would be able to sustain themselves in the gambling industry.” He said that any future casino should be required to including hotels, entertainment and retail shops, unlike the existing casinos.
Senator Linda Valentino said she plans to submit a bill that would authorize three more casinos, including one in southern Maine, one for a tribe, and one for Washington. She would prefer that the total number of slots in the state be capped at 3,500.
Maine Governor Paul LePage’s position is that the voters should approve any expansion of gaming.
