Tribal slots bill gets hearing in Augusta

AUGUSTA – Washington County, plagued by poverty and joblessness, is in dire need of an economic lifeline, supporters of a tribal racetrack casino told a legislative committee Monday.

“We need to have something down there,” John Stevens of Indian Township said during his testimony before the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee, which is considering a bill that would allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe to open a slots facility on or near its reservations in Washington County.

“We are determined to survive,” continued Stevens, the tribe’s 72-year-old former governor.

The bill, LD 1573, would allow the state’s four federally recognized Indian tribes to operate up to 1,500 slot machines at a tribally owned harness racing track. The bill is based on current law that allows up to 1,500 slots at Bangor Raceway.

The new legislation, sponsored by Passamaquoddy Rep. Fred Moore, appears to have broad support among lawmakers and community leaders from Maine’s easternmost county, where poverty and unemployment figures are roughly twice the state average.

Those are dubious distinctions, the bill’s supporters repeatedly reminded lawmakers during the afternoon hearing.

“This could be the economic light at the end of a very long tunnel,” said Calais businessman Louis Bernardini, chairman of the St. Croix Valley Chamber of Commerce.

While supporters outnumbered opponents at the hearing, those against the plan warned lawmakers that any “economic light” could carry with it a virtual jackpot of financial and social maladies, including an exacerbation of the region’s drug problem.

“It could worsen the problems they have now,” said Lt. Patrick Fleming of the Maine Department of Public Safety, who also reiterated the Baldacci administration’s continued resistance to any expansion of casino gambling in the state.

Rep. Anne Perry, D-Calais, also took note of the region’s addiction problem in her testimony, but countered Fleming’s assessment of the impact by saying the tribal casino would bring more good than harm.

“We need more than treatment, we need prevention,” said Perry, whose sentiments were echoed in written testimony from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. “The best prevention is hope and an ability to work and be productive.”

No vote was taken after the hearing Monday. The committee is scheduled to consider the bill on May 4.

Similar to the law allowing the Bangor racetrack casino, the tribe’s bill would divide any revenue among several entities, including the harness racing industry, state regulators and agricultural fairs.

Unlike the existing law, which provides scholarship money to the University of Maine System and the state’s community college system, LD 1573 would reserve scholarship money for Washington County campuses.

Just how much revenue would be generated at a slots parlor in rural Maine has yet to be determined. But the mere prospect of doubling the number of slot machines in the state did not sit well with a spokesman for the anti-gambling group, Casinos No!, which successfully fought an Indian casino proposal in 2003.

“There is really nothing to prevent these from popping up all over the state,” said Jay Nutting, an attorney for the Portland-based group.

The group’s southern Maine roots drew looks of contempt from some supporters and a question from one committee member.

“How many of your members are from north of Augusta?” asked Rep. Wright Pinkham, a Republican from rural Lexington Township, later noting northern Maine’s relative support for casino gambling in past elections.

Maine’s Indian tribes have faced an uphill battle when it comes to casino gambling. Unlike most other states, Maine, because of an earlier state law, is not required by federal law to negotiate gaming compacts with its federally recognized tribes.

The bill’s sponsor said allowing the Maine tribes the same advantage as other tribes was an issue of economic fairness.

“[Gaming] has lifted many tribes out of poverty,” Rep. Moore said. “It has given tribes opportunity.”

LD 1573 would also allow tribes to operate high-stakes bingo off their reservations if the operations were located at the tribal racetrack.