Calais racino may head out to referendum

A proposal for a racino in Calais run by the Passamaquoddy Tribe appears to be headed out again to a statewide vote, with Governor Paul LePage expected to veto legislation that would authorize the gaming facilities in Washington County and Biddeford. The bill had passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 94-49 and in the Senate, with senators initially voting 17-16 for the measure, and then 21-12 on the second vote. Final votes on the bill will be taken when the legislature returns on June 28 for an expected two-day session.
Maine Senate President Kevin Raye of Perry notes that the governor is not opposed to a Washington County racino but does have concerns about the proposal for Biddeford. Both plans are contained in the same citizen-initiated legislation. "The governor's position is that any proposal should have the support of the county where it will be located," Raye notes. With the 2007 racino proposal for Washington County having received 70% support in the county, Raye says LePage doesn't question the local support for the Calais racino. However, York County has not voted on the Biddeford proposal.
LePage indicated to Raye that he would support either of two scenarios under which he wouldn't veto the measure. One would be if the legislature passed both the bill for the Washington County and Biddeford racinos and also the bill that would allow for a casino in Lewiston. The Lewiston bill, though, was defeated in the Senate. The other scenario the governor proposed was if the legislature approved a separate bill that would require county-wide referenda on any new gaming proposals. Raye then submitted a legislative request for a bill that would have sent the racino proposal to a county referendum following approval by the legislature.
However, he asked the legislature's Revisor's Office to check with the Attorney General's Office on whether the bill would be considered a competing measure to the citizen-initiated racino bill, so that it too would end up being placed out to statewide referendum. The AG's office felt that it might be challenged as a competing measure. Raye says he decided it did not seem prudent to proceed, so he didn't introduce the bill.
If the racino proposal goes out to statewide referendum, Raye notes that the Biddeford plan will be included, which may change the dynamics of the voting. "It might help with statewide approval," he says, adding that having the two proposals in the same bill did help pick up some support in the legislature.
During the June 9 debate on the bill in the Senate, where the vote was expected to be close, Raye had argued that the legislature should give the green light to the cities of Calais and Biddeford to pursue the gaming proposals. He stated, "The debate as to whether or not Maine is a gaming state is over. Maine is a gaming state." And he told his fellow legislators, "It is an indignity to be told by the people in this building that we don't have a right to determine our own economic future." The Passamaquoddy Tribe has been pursuing the establishment of a gaming facility for 18 years, and while other proposals have been approved, Washington County is still waiting. Raye urged the senators to support the bill in order "to help put an end to years of being bypassed and living with the consequences of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment in the state." He urged them to reject the idea "that rural areas of Maine must continue to wait and be told, 'No, you have to wait until somehow you can raise enough money or have enough influence to get the votes of people who may live six hours away, who have never once set foot in your community....' I do not believe that is the right answer for the people of Maine."
While the Senate initially voted 17-16 for the measure, Mainers Against A Rotten Deal believes the first vote in the Senate shows that senators are just as divided as the people of Maine about gambling. "What more proof do you need that Maine people have not in any way chosen to quadruple the number of slot machines?" asked Chris O'Neil, a spokesperson for the anti-gambling group, in a prepared release. "Casino lobbyists claim that November's razor thin vote on the Oxford casino is proof that Mainers want unlimited casino gambling. We said those lobbyists are wrong, and now the Senate has proven it. This one vote decision, with two senators missing, shows that the Senate is just as divided as the voters. In the absence of a mandate, the people need to decide this."
"It is possible that a few senators voted for the bill only because they safely know the governor will veto it," O'Neil said. "If you factor in the obvious trouble that the Oxford project is having with financing, it is clear that there are grave doubts among Mainers and in the gambling industry about this state's ability to absorb more gambling casinos than the one we already have in Bangor."