Bill would let tribes operate slot machines

CALAIS – The state representative of the Passamaquoddy Tribe has introduced legislation that would authorize any Indian tribe in Maine to run high stakes bingo and slot machines anywhere in Washington County.

A gambling facility will be among the issues discussed today when Rep. Fred Moore meets with Calais business leaders, Moore confirmed Thursday.

The business forum will be held at 1 p.m. at the Calais Motor Inn. The meeting is open to the public.

Moore said Thursday he has introduced draft legislation titled “A Bill to Authorize a Gaming Facility in Washington County.” The bill still has a long legislative road to travel before coming to a vote.

Currently, Bangor is the only location in Maine that can legally operate slot machines. A racetrack-casino featuring slots is expected to open in Bangor in 2006.

Recently, the Calais City Council met with members of the tribe in executive session. What they discussed was not made public.

City Manager Linda Pagels said Thursday that because of the nature of executive sessions, she could not comment.

But Moore talked about his legislation.

“The bill intends to authorize any federally recognized tribe in Maine to conduct high-stakes beano in Washington County,” he said.

“What the bill does, it goes further to authorize up to 1,500 slot machines in a tribally owned gaming facility in Washington County and the facility would be owned by those tribes wishing to participate.”

The other tribes are the Penobscot, Maliseet and Micmacs. “This could be seen as a consolidation of tribe gaming interests in the state,” Moore said.

Although there has been speculation that the tribe might again try to site a gaming facility in Calais, Moore stressed that his legislation was not site-specific. He said the facility could be placed anywhere in the county.

Moore said he was uncertain how fellow legislators in Augusta would receive the bill, but in the past, the tribe has run into roadblocks both in and outside of the state capital.

Last year, the tribe’s efforts to build a high-stakes bingo hall off reservation in Washington Country faced resistance from the tribe’s former gaming partner, the Penobscot Nation, which operates its own bingo hall on its reservation north of Old Town.

The Penobscots argued that to allow one tribe, but not all tribes, to operate an off-reservation bingo hall was unfair.

The idea of gaming in Calais has been positively received in the past. In 1992, Calais voters supported the tribe’s plan to build a casino hall by a 2-to-1 margin. The Legislature killed the project two years later.

Even the tribe’s controversial effort with the Penobscots to open a $650 million casino in southern Maine won approval in Calais, one of only a handful of communities to back the project.

Two years ago, voters rejected the Passamaquoddy-Penobscot casino plan, but did authorize slots in the state’s commercial harness racing tracks in Bangor and Scarborough. Local voters rejected slots in Scarborough.

The tribe would like to tap into some of that slot-machine gold. “I think it is important to point out the measure plans to replicate the current scheme which governs the operation of slots in the state,” Moore said. “The slot portion of the legislation would be identical to existing or current law governing slot machines.”