Maine’s tribes are pushing Governor Janet Mills and the legislature to recognize tribal sovereignty and let the tribes offer mobile sports betting. The tribes include the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Micmac tribes.
The governor and the tribes are close to a deal, according to the Bangor Daily News. The paper said it obtained a proposal from Mills’s office that would give the tribes a monopoly on sports betting, while cutting out the existing commercial casinos from offering it. It would also require the state to consult with its tribes before taking action that affects them.
This would involve reworking the 1980s land-claims settlement of a 1970s lawsuit by the tribes to try to reclaim a large percentage of the state. That settlement gave tribes millions of dollars’ worth of land and the same legal status as municipalities. But not the type of sovereign-to-sovereign status that tribes enjoy in other states. Such as sales and income tax benefits.
Because the settlement occurred prior to the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the tribes didn’t get the benefit of that act. They are pushing for that to change.
Lawmakers who represent Bangor, home of the Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway Bangor, are split. Senator Joe Baldacci accuses Mills of trying to undermine tribal rights, including the ability to offer sports betting. Rep. Joe Perry, doesn’t support expanding tribal sovereignty, especially in view of the commercial casino based in Bangor.
Mills, according to spokeswoman Lindsay Crete, the governor “remains solely on enacting good policy.” She urged Baldacci to “engage in these debates in the Legislature in a respectful, constructive manner that is focused on the merits of policy rather than politically-charged attacks.”
Baldacci’s bill would allow off-track betting parlors to take retail sports wagers and online sportsbooks would be set aside for the tribes. Revenues would be earmarked for problem gambling and to subsidize harness racing and agricultural fairs.
Perry commented, “The state needs to be square with the tribes, but I’m not sure how we do that.”
Maine’s tribes have tried for years to overcome the handicap created by the land claims settlement, which locked them out from gaming. They have resorted to voters initiatives and bills proposed by friendly lawmakers. All without success.
In their negotiations with the governor, the tribal representatives have held firm on getting full sovereignty—like tribes in other states. One study by Suffolk Law concluded that Maine’s tribes had missed out on other tribes gained from 151 federal laws.
As one example, once tribes in other states obtain a compact with the governor they can build casinos on the reservation. In Maine, tribes need to follow state regulations like a commercial casino would.
Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis commented: “I want to be clear that the Penobscot Nation does not view these discussions as a substitute or replacement of the bill being heard Tuesday, which is intended to modernize the state settlement act.”
Ever since being sworn in as governor in 2019, Mills has pledged to improve the state’s relations with the tribes. But that pledge hasn’t prevented her from opposing a bill that would have given more power to the tribes.
However on February 11 she issued this statement: “We’re working well with the tribes and I look forward to continuing to work with the tribes. We’re developing better and better relationships every day,” Mills said. “I look forward to doing that as long as I’m governor of the state.”
In the current controversy, more than 1,200 people, many of them tribal members, have submitted written testimony on Baldacci’s bill.
