Slots opponents prepare for fight Tribe plan rattles Casinos No! cage

BANGOR ? A struggling campaign to outlaw slot machines in the state could gain a deep-pocketed ally in the wake of legislative support for a plan to open a tribally owned racetrack casino in Washington County.

Casinos No!, the Portland-based group that raised $3 million to defeat an Indian casino proposal in 2003, on Wednesday sent a letter to members asking whether they would contribute to a campaign to repeal the law allowing slot machines at the state’s harness racing tracks.

“This is precisely what we were concerned about,” Casinos No! spokeswoman Val Landry said after the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee voted 9-2 on Wednesday to double the number of slots in the state to 3,000. “[Washington County] marks a major expansion of gambling.”

The bill, LD 1573, would allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe to operate as many as 1,500 slots at a racetrack on or near its reservations. An amendment adopted Wednesday would require local approval of the project.

LD 1573 now heads to the House and Senate for consideration.

The bill mimics legislation passed last year after voters approved slots at the state’s two commercial racetracks in Bangor and Scarborough. Bangor voters gave the needed local approval to the plan, making Bangor Raceway the only site eligible to house the 1,500 slots allowed under current law.

As it stands, No Slots for ME!, a loosely organized group behind the repeal effort, has collected only about half of the 50,519 signatures needed to force a November 2006 vote. The group, which reportedly has little in the way of funds, has until Sept. 28, 2005, to submit its petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office.

The possible entry of Casinos No!, and its fund-raising capacity, into the repeal effort concerned some Bangor officials, one of whom blamed the Washington County bill for “fanning the opposition’s flames.”

“I think people are supportive [of the slots], but I think they want to see how Bangor works once it’s up and running,” City Councilor Dan Tremble said Wednesday, calling the tribe’s plan “premature.”

Passamaquoddy Rep. Fred Moore III, the sponsor of LD 1573, said he was not surprised by Casinos No! weighing in on the debate. But he called the southern Maine group’s effort “misguided and ill-conceived.”

“For a group that doesn’t like gambling, they sure are taking a big gamble by putting this before voters again, considering they have already supported it,” Moore said, noting the 2003 vote in favor of slots at harness racing tracks.

“We don’t believe the people of Maine are opposed to this. There are segments that are, but I don’t know how many of them have actually been to Washington County,” he said.

The Passamaquoddy plan appears to have broad support in Washington County, with its entire delegation signing on to Moore’s bill. Its backers say the plan can deliver a much-needed economic boost to the county ? Maine’s poorest ? and a prime chance to capture tourist dollars from the Canadian Maritimes.

Critics, such as Landry of Casinos No!, say the slots will have the opposite effect, and sentence the region to a future of low-paying jobs and gambling-related ills, including bankruptcies.

The strong committee vote is expected to bolster the bill’s chances in the full Legislature, where leaders already have expressed support.

The bill’s toughest hurdle in the State House could lie in Gov. John Baldacci, who opposes the measure but has stopped short of threatening a veto.

In other gambling news, the Penobscot Nation opted Wednesday to withdraw its bill to allow slot machines at its bingo hall on Indian Island.