AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Thursday to carry over an Indian casino bill until the session next January, effectively postponing construction of a casino in Calais by at least a year.

The committee’s vote means there will be no floor debate on the $20 million hotel-gambling casino that was sought by the Passamaquoddy Tribe as a way to raise revenue and create jobs.

Rep. Susan Farnsworth, D-Hallowell, who wanted more time to work out wording for the Passamaquoddy enterprise, was disappointed.

“I’m not sure I see the problem in continuing to work on it,” said Farnsworth.

The committee earlier had sought more time from legislative leaders to work on the bill. But the leaders refused and urged Judiciary to carry over the bill, giving it more time for study.

Sen. Gerard P. Conley Jr., D-Portland, said, “As a supporter of the bill, I think time will put this into a better posture. It wouldn’t take much to get people to vote against this now. I know that it has no chance in the Senate. There aren’t going to be positive things happen to it on the floor.”

Carrying over the bill to next year keeps the measure alive and prevents it from being killed on the floor or vetoed this year.

Sen. Harry Vose, D-Meddybemps, who sponsored the bill on behalf of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, said, “If you really wanted a casino in Calais, it was desirable to hold it over. It’s obviously a delay that nobody wanted, but something of this magnitude is worth waiting for. I think it’s going to give us more of a chance to sell the product.”

The Passamaquoddys sought permission to build a casino they said would employ about 700 workers, many at high salaries. They cited a new casino complex in Connecticut run by the Pequot Indians as evidence that a cleanly run operation could be developed.

But Attorney General Michael E. Carpenter and Public Safety Commissioner John R. Atwood warned that casinos in general attract organized crime, and Indian-run casinos have had problems with their management. They said they wanted much more state oversight than the original bill.

A new draft was developed that gave much more control to the Maine State Police, including the ability to investigate financial backers, but it was evident the votes weren’t there for passage this session.

Four Indian women traveled from Down East to the State House Thursday to register their opposition to the casino.

“There’s a lot of reaction. On a grass-roots level, we haven’t been given the specifics,” said Mary Bassett, a Passamaquoddy elder from Pleasant Point.

She said only one-quarter of the Passamaquoddys at the Pleasant Point reservation voted in a nonbinding referendum that approved the casino last year.

Bassett said the casino would be a form of exploitation of Indians.

“There is nothing spiritual or traditional about a casino,” she said. “We need to feel good about ourselves as Passamaquoddys and a casino won’t do that.”

Georgia Mitchell, a Passamaquoddy, said, “I oppose this casino. I want the public to know we already have businesses that are tribally owned and they don’t employ our people.”

A Penobscot woman named Ssipsis said the location contemplated for the casino along Route 1 in Calais was inappropriate because it was an ancient burning ground where Passamaquoddy bodies were cremated.