Like Charlie Brown, tired of trying to kick the football from Lucy, Maine’s tribes say they are tired of showing up to hear proposals for allowing them to operate casinos, only to have the proposals blow away.
Last week the Maine legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee held a hearing on a bill that would allow tribal gaming, but not tribal members attended.
Its sponsor, Rep. Benjamin Collings declared, “For years the tribes have carried the burden of bringing gaming to the state and they’ve come close and have never got it.” He added, “And right now out of state corporations have claimed a monopoly here in the state and I’m glad for the jobs they provide but there’s room in the market for tribal gaming.”
Collings’ bill would allow for the issuance of four casino licenses, for each of the federally-recognized tribes, the Micmac, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot. They would be exempt from current state law that prevents a casino from operating within 100 miles of an existing casino. Their casinos would pay 25 percent of slots revenue and 16 percent of table game revenue to the state. A total of 1,500 slot machines would be authorized.
His bill is opposed by the state’s two commercial casinos, the Oxford Casino and the Hollywood Hotel & Raceway Bangor. One tribe, the Passamaquoddy, operates a high stakes bingo parlor.
A representative of the Hollywood casino, Chris Jackson, told lawmakers, “Any expansion of gambling would erode our ability to continue to operate.” He said the casino isn’t using its full allocation of slot machines because its existing business has been harmed by competition from the Oxford Casino.
When lawmakers asked why no tribal representatives attended the meeting, Collings said they were “fatigued by past failures” and from being excluded from discussions in the past.
They weren’t willing to come here and be part of the process,” he said. “Right now at least four of the five tribal communities are in a wait and see approach. They’re watching this they’re seeing if anything comes about and if it does they may be more engaged. As you know they’ve been here they’ve put a lot of time and resources so they’ve been to this dance more than once.”
There are no tribes in Collings’ district, but he has represented their interests in the past. During the hearing, he commented, “For years the tribes have carried the burden of bringing gaming to the state and they’ve come close and have never got it. And right now, out-of-state corporations have claimed a monopoly here in the state and I’m glad for the jobs they provide but there’s room in the market for tribal gaming.”
