AUGUSTA – The Senate voted Monday against a bid to build a resort-style casino in southern Maine, dealing a potentially fatal blow to a proposal lawmakers have considered since last year.
An effort to advance the proposal fell two votes short, 16-18. The Senate then voted to concur with the House of Representatives, which last week voted 83-61 to defeat the proposal. Taken together, the votes indicate the bill won’t make it through the Legislature this year.
Gov. Paul LePage has spoken against the proposal, meaning a veto is likely even if proponents can muster the votes to get it to his desk. Overriding a veto would require a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate.
The proposal has been unable to gain momentum, largely because of strong opposition from the defenders of existing gambling operations in Oxford and Bangor.
The Senate vote did not generate debate.
As with previous gambling bills, the battle over building a casino that proponents said would be worth more than $500 million has been regional and, in some instances, ideological. Lawmakers representing regions in or near Oxford and Bangor, homes to two existing casinos, have mostly opposed the proposal, while lawmakers in southern Maine have been mostly supportive.
The bill would establish a competitive bid process for the right to build a casino in either Cumberland or York counties and it would be subject to approval by county voters.
The proposal is similar to a bill that stalled last year but was changed to increase the license fee paid to the state from $25 million to $50 million. The fee would be divided between the state’s General Fund and a so-called mitigation fund if either of the two existing casinos closed within five years of a resort casino opening in southern Maine.
Revenues from the casino would be divided among veterans organizations, the harness racing industry, the state’s highway fund, gambling addiction prevention, off-track betting facilities, the host municipality, the town of Oxford, the city of Bangor, state education funding and other programs and causes.
The long list of recipients reflects a desire to build support among various interests that would gain from it. In the past, interest groups left feeling shortchanged by such distributions have helped defeat casino proposals.
The bill, L.D. 1280, has been heavily lobbied since it was introduced last year. Proponents included the construction company Cianbro, developer Ocean Properties and the harness racing industry.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
