GOP leaders risk credibility on racino bill House duo want new deadline

AUGUSTA – The “Lone Ranger” approach by House Republican leaders in revising a racino bill approved in a statewide referendum could potentially divide the GOP caucus, expand gambling beyond the intent of Maine voters, and defer action on other pressing legislative issues.

Those were some of the concerns voiced Monday by Democratic Gov. John E. Baldacci, by former independent gubernatorial candidate and Central Maine Power chief David Flanagan of Manchester, and by Republican state Rep. Peter Mills of Cornville.

Last week, Baldacci was joined by Democratic leaders in the House and Senate as well as Senate GOP leaders in supporting the administration’s draft legislation to regulate slot machine activities at Bangor’s harness racing track. Leading the list of proposed revisions was the governor’s desire to replace the Maine Harness Racing Commission’s oversight of racino gaming with a five-member gambling board.

House Republican leaders Joe Bruno of Raymond and David Bowles of Sanford agree that more regulation is needed, but are unhappy the governor refuses to extend a Dec. 31 deadline for Scarborough Downs to get the local approval it needs for a racino.

Although Bangor voters approved the concept in June, Scarborough residents rejected a similar plan for Scarborough Downs leaving the track in search of a community that would accept gambling activity. Votes on the proposal are slated in Westbrook and Saco for the end of the month, but slot proponents are less than confident of a favorable outcome in either community.

As a result, Bruno and Bowles would like to have the Dec. 31 deadline extended into 2004 in order to allow the track to find a new host. Failure to do so, they maintain, would give Bangor a monopoly on the racino business and deny southern Maine voters a regional facility.

“We have concerns that this legislation attempts to subvert the will of the people,” Bowles said in a press statement. “The [governor’s] proposal, as presented to us, goes beyond regulating this industry and we believe attempts to thwart the intent of this initiative which passed by a solid margin. It appears to us that the governor’s proposal amounts to a closet veto [of a southern Maine racino].”

Baldacci said he was concerned about his discussions with Bruno and Bowles since both men seemed to want to craft racino legislation that went beyond the intentions of proponents who placed the question on the ballot. The original legislation intended to resolve the question of whether a particular community desired to be host to such a gambling enterprise and limited the gambling activities to slot machines.

“Representative Bowles wanted to make sure the act would also incorporate cards, roulette wheels and other types of things,” Baldacci said. “Slot machines were passed, and I certainly don’t want to get into more than was intended.”

Baldacci was sensitive to Bowles’ characterization of his racino revisions as tantamount to a “closet veto,” adding that such a harsh assessment flew in the face of actions taken by other states facing similar new gambling ventures.

“We’re not trying to do any more or any less,” Baldacci said. “We’re trying to be surgical in addressing the regulatory structure and basically allowing the citizens of this state to have some protection. This is the weakest drafted law [of its type] in the country.”

Efforts to reach Bowles or Bruno for comment Monday were unsuccessful, but state Rep. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, said he had understood from the onset that neither Bruno nor Bowles ever intended to turn their racino concerns into a House Republican issue. Not making it a caucus issue would be a wise move, he added, since the two southern Maine GOP leaders could trigger a north-south division among the House Republicans over an issue that does not really lend itself to a caucus position.

“I would wonder how many people in southern Maine would support them and also assume that those [lawmakers] north of Augusta would oppose it,” Mills said. “So this is not a partisan issue and I was kind of surprised to see them jump onto it – although I respect their right to do it.”

What is more troubling to Mills than his GOP leaders’ intentions to stake out their own positions on the racino legislation is the potential for a quagmire the entire issue poses for the Legislature when it convenes next month.

“We’ve got lots bigger problems around here than racinos,” Mills said. “I suspect we will spend 80 percent of the time on it in the next caucus. It’s going to be just like the teacher fingerprinting bill. Rome will be burning over tax reform and we’ll be talking about racinos until April 10.”

Flanagan, a 2002 independent gubernatorial candidate, said Baldacci was “legally and morally” justified in his rapid response to revising the racino bill – a proposal launched by a citizens initiative that was funded by one individual, Shawn Scott. The Las Vegas developer hopes to be the licensee who will operate slot machines in Bangor. Flanagan said the racino plan was never fully or fairly presented to the voters and became eclipsed by the larger debate over a tribal casino question that was also on the Nov. 4 ballot.

“The Legislature is supposed to exercise its oversight powers to scrutinize laws and correct problems [arising from a citizens initiative proposal],” Flanagan said. “That is never more true than when legislation is sponsored by self-serving economic interests for their own benefit or when the proponents clearly used misleading advertising to get their way; or when Maine voters did not get a fair chance to hear both sides of the issue because of the lack of a funded, organized opposition; or when the costs of the scheme thus advanced appear to greatly outweigh the benefits.”