AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine House of Representatives gave initial approval Tuesday to legislation that could pave the way for a casino resort and racetrack in southern Maine. The vote followed lengthy debate. The Senate then defeated the measure by a single vote, leaving the future of the bill far from certain.The House appears to be in a gambling mood, but not the Senate. As the House was giving initial approval - 83 to 62 - for a casino and racetrack complex in southern Maine, the Senate was killing legislation authorizing a tribal casino in northern Maine, and later rejected the southern Maine casino measure.
The debate was not along party lines, as has often been the case this session. Instead it was more rooted in philosophy and regional interests. Rep. Louis Luchini, a Democrat from Ellsworth, co-chairs the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over gambling. He opposes the southern Maine casino, saying it is not a good deal for the state and would allow the facility to be authorized without a statewide vote.
"Just three years ago the voters voted on a southern Maine casino and the voters rejected it," Luchini said. "And now we are putting one back out there, except this time we’re saying they can’t vote on it. This would only limit the voting to county and municipal votes."
There was also regional opposition. Rep. Kathleen Dillingham, a Republican from Oxford, says a southern Maine casino, which is defined in the bill as Cumberland or York County, would take business and economic development away from Oxford County, home to the Oxford casino.
"I could base my objection on the probable direct and indirect job loss that would result with the building of a southern Maine casino less than 53 miles south of Oxford," Dillingham said. That is just about an hour by vehicle by traveling Route 26 and I-95."
The proposed legislation would disperse revenues from the casino to a wide range of interests. For example, agricultural fairs and harness racing, veterans services and highway and bridge repairs across the state. It also would provide revenue to the county and municipality where the new casino is located and it would allocate some funds to Oxford and Bangor, locations of existing casinos and to Oxford and Penobscot counties.
Rep. Don Marean, a Republican from Hollis, supports the measure. "We all talk about jobs, and we talk about the impact of new businesses in Maine. This bill will give us both. I think this bill will create a trifecta - job creation, investments, preservation of farms and open space."
And Rep. Diane Russell, a Democrat from Portland, argued for the bill, saying it’s better to have the Legislature site a new casino and determine its oversight and revenue allocation, rather than having it done by a company initiating legislation through a petition drive.
"If this package does not move forward, the cease fire will be called off," Russell said, "and instead of being able to have a fair shake at putting in a proposal and letting the best proposal win, getting the best deal for Maine through a competitive bid process, where we write the rules."
The Senate defeated the House-passed measure 18 to 17, sending the bill back to the House where lawmakers could amend it to try to gain Senate support for a different version of the measure.
And then there is Gov. Paul LePage: He has been on a veto spree, and any bill will need a two-thirds vote to overcome that possibility. On these first votes, the measure is well short in both chambers.
