Panel reverses vote on Calais bingo hall

AUGUSTA – A plan to build a Passamaquoddy high-stakes bingo hall in Calais met its all-but-certain demise Thursday, with a legislative committee rescinding its initial support for the bill.

The bill’s reversal of fortune came after members of the Penobscot Nation, a tribe with its own bingo operation north of Old Town, lobbied for inclusion in the legislation – the first to allow a tribe to build a bingo hall off its reservation should voters in a nearby town approve.

After the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee vote, Passamaquoddy Rep. Fred Moore III expressed frustration with the Penobscot for forcing the committee to reconsider LD 642, thus hastening the bill’s defeat, he said.

“This was an attempt to take one step forward,” said Moore, who touted the measure as a much-needed economic boost for his tribe and Washington County, both among the state’s poorest. “It’s too bad it had to die here because one tribe wanted to take a giant leap.

“This is a case of the left foot tripping the right foot,” he said.

In late March, the bill’s future looked bright, with the committee voting 11-2 to send the bill to the House floor with its recommendation.

Thursday’s 5-3 reversal didn’t sit well with some committee members, including Rep. Joseph Clark, D-Millinocket. Despite introducing the amendment, Clark urged its defeat rather than including the Penobscot, who already have a profitable bingo operation.

The Passamaquoddy reservations are considered too remote to attract many visitors to a bingo game.

“I was just trying to level the playing field,” said Clark, who suggested the bill be reintroduced next year.

Penobscot Rep. Donna Loring, at the opposite end of the committee room from Moore, sat quietly at the afternoon hearing. Afterward, she expressed regret at the bill’s defeat.

“I would have supported it with just the Passamaquoddy,” said Loring, who had presented the Penobscot’s inclusion as a matter of fairness. “The committee never asked.”

The late show of support did little to pacify Moore, whose tribe already had entered into discussions with Calais officials.

“That’s not what she told everybody else,” he later said. “The loss of this bill is because of the Penobscot.”

Rep. Pat Blanchette was the first to urge the bill’s defeat because she feared the Penobscot, if allowed to run a high-stakes bingo operation in Bangor, for instance, would jeopardize smaller bingo games run by charitable organizations.

The five committee members absent Thursday still have an opportunity to cast their votes. But Clark’s rescinding of his support coupled with what is destined to be a divided committee report all but killed the measure for this session, Moore said.

“It will be back,” he added.