Penobscot Nation fights bingo smoking ban

OLD TOWN – A bill passed by the Maine Senate on Wednesday that would ban smoking at bingo halls across the state threatens the livelihood of the Penobscot Indian Nation, according to Chief Barry Dana.

The Penobscot Indian Nation pays a $50,000 license fee to the Maine State Police Gaming Division to hold games of high-stakes bingo seven weekends a year. The games, which feature total prize money of up to $250,000, draw more than 1,000 people each time to the Sockalexis Bingo Palace on Indian Island.

Representatives of the Penobscot Indian Nation say the bill would cripple their business, since approximately 75 percent of their bingo customers smoke.

“It’s our prediction that this is going to sink us,” said Dana. “From my perspective, super bingo provides half of our revenue. Apparently, the powers that be don’t care.”

In late April, the House approved LD 227, a bill that prohibits smoking in public places where beano or bingo games are being conducted. On Wednesday, the Senate also passed the bill 19-14, despite an effort by Sen. Mary Cathcart, D-Orono, to attach an amendment to the bill exempting the Penobscot Indians’ high-stakes bingo games. The bill is scheduled for a final vote in the House today.

Action could be delayed there, however, as supporters of a tribal exemption continue their efforts to amend the bill. If the House approves the exemption, it could trigger a showdown with the Senate. If the House and Senate fail to agree on its provisions, the bill could die.

Rep. Donna Loring, the Penobscot Indian Nation’s tribal representative to the Legislature, vowed to press on in her efforts to exclude the high-stakes games from the legislation.

“We’ll see where it goes in the House,” she said. “I have to admit the vote bothered me a little because it carries a tinge of paternalism with it. I mean, we know smoking’s bad. But we have a tribal government and we ought to be extended the opportunity to address that issue on our own, if we choose. Frankly, I am a little insulted by it.”

Cathcart said reduced revenues from the high-stakes bingo hall would affect the Nation.

“They use the funds for a lot of municipal responsibilities,” Cathcart said. “It’s going to be a hardship for them. My hope is that people will play bingo anyway.”

The manager of Penobscot High Stakes Bingo, Miles Francis Sr., said the amendment was filed because customers who play bingo on Indian Island would travel elsewhere if they were not allowed to smoke.

“For us, 80 percent of our customers are bused in from Canada or up from southern New England,” he said. “It would certainly take 80 percent of our business away and it would virtually put us out of business.”

The manager said customers from the south would travel to Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut and his Canadian customers would go to Halifax, Nova Scotia, or other bingo halls to play if they were not allowed to smoke. Francis said the economic impact of the bill would hurt the communities of Old Town, Orono, Bangor and other Maine communities.

“We take 600 to 700 hotel rooms every time we have a bingo,” he said. “The Canadians stay for three nights and they all do their shopping at the Bangor Mall. Those who come up from New Hampshire stop at the Portland mall on the way home.”

The sale of fuel, transportation and food at area restaurants would also be reduced, Francis said. He added the 74 employees at Penobscot High Stakes Bingo would be in jeopardy of losing their jobs.

The Penobscot Indian Nation recognizes the health issue related to smoking and second-hand smoke. That is why the bingo hall “recently invested $1 million for a smoke removal system,” Francis said.

“We’re taking a stance on health issues here on the Nation,” said Dana. “We’ve made all of our buildings nonsmoking, and we’ve definitely taken the position that smoking is not healthy. But it seems that the greater amount of super bingo people are smokers.”

The chief questioned whether lawmakers even considered how this bill would affect Native American-run facilities.

“I don’t think enough Legislators heard from people like Miles,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ve missed the boat, but it seems like someone in Augusta should have said, ‘What about the tribes?'”

If both the Senate and the House enact the bill, which requires only a majority vote, and the governor signs the bill into law, it will go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, around September.

The chief added, “I will gladly sit down with the governor and discuss our situation.

“At a time of economic needs, it [the state] is shooting itself in the foot,” said the chief.

Until the bill becomes a law, Dana said he’ll remain optimistic a favorable outcome can be reached between the Nation and the state.

NEWS reporter A.J. Higgins contributed to this report.