Maine’s tribes are directly petitioning the legislature to grant them the right operate casinos in the state. They have previously tried bills and referendums, without success.
Unlike other tribes in other states, Maine’s tribes are specifically exempted from federal Indian gaming laws without the go-ahead of the legislature because of a 1980 land claims settlement. That means it is not covered by the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA.)
The bill they are pushing with sympathetic legislators would direct the state to negotiate with the tribes for a tribal state gaming compact.
Kirk Francis, chief of the Penobscot Nation, one of four tribes in Maine, said, “We are not seeking anything new or special. We’re simply trying to restore the recognition of our legal and inherent rights and our rights to self-governance on par with those tribes all across the country.”
Clarissa Sabattis, chief of the Houlton band of Maliseets, added her support: “As tribal nations, our only ask is to be treated with fairness and equity.”
Opposing their efforts are the owners of the two commercial casinos in Maine, the Oxford Casino and Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway Bangor.
According to a lobbyist for Oxford Casino, the market would be saturated by more casinos and existing ones would be harmed, resulting in job losses.
Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce John Williams told lawmakers on the Veterans and Legal Affairs committee, “I am not appearing here today to offering any testimony on the legal rights of Maine Native American tribes.” He added, “Absolutely not. I will say that Maine voters and regulators have set the bar high with regard to approval of any gambling facility.”
Meanwhile Oxford Casino, which first closed almost exactly one year ago due to the coronavirus, has expanded its customers capacity to 50 percent as of March 26 and started to rehire furloughed workers and is adding new ones. That means almost 1,400 customers at a time. It joins other similar establishments that Governor Janet Mills has allowed to open at 50 percent capacity.
The casino reopened in July, but only 200 customers were allowed in the doors at a time—seven percent of normal, and only to play table games. Several restaurants also stayed closed.
General Manager Jack Sours called this business plan unfeasible. “It made no sense for up to 100 people to stay in the hotel but not be able to come down to the gaming floor because it’s at capacity there.”
He reacted to the governor’s order. “We are opening one food outlet, the OX Pub, and the hotel, after March 26,” he said. “We are recalling about 140 furloughed team members and we have 20 open positions that we are looking to fill.” The casino kept in touch with the workers it let go, and is happy to be bringing them back to their old positions.
He touted the casino’s safety record: “We’ve been very diligent … conscientious of keeping our team members and the public safe. We have 100% compliance with mask wearing, with social distancing. We have hand sanitizing stations located throughout. We sanitize the slot machines and all touch points. We clean the facility regularly.”
To help enforce health dictates, such as wearing a mask, the casino has about 30 security workers, who are trained to makes sure that large groups don’t congregated. Security officers are on deck 24/7.
A year ago the casino thought that it would only be closing for two weeks and paid all its employees two weeks’ salary in anticipation of that. Later it laid most of them off, although it paid their healthcare for six months.
The Oxford Casino’s profits have plummeted about 50 percent over the year, based on how much the casino pays to the state.
There is a trickle-down effect, with the town of Oxford losing $1.2 million from project revenue and Oxford County more than $600,000.
