Governor vetoes Indian-operated racetrack casino

AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci, as promised last June, vetoed a Washington County racino bill Friday.

The measure had envisioned a statewide ratification vote last fall.

“Adjournment of the first (special) session prohibited my taking action on the bill, but the Constitution allows me to take that action now,” Baldacci wrote to lawmakers. “Thus, even though the act’s proposed November election date has come and gone, I am returning this bill without my signature or approval and urge that you sustain my veto.”

The Legislature’s second regular session opened Wednesday. Lawmakers had no floor session Friday.

Proponents of an Indian-operated racetrack casino, who have not given up, twice won legislative backing last year.

But Baldacci vetoed a bill that did not include a referendum provision on June 9, and the veto was sustained by the House of Representatives. Then, on June 23 after the Legislature adjourned, the governor vowed to veto the second measure, which called for a statewide referendum.

Baldacci had said he wouldn’t veto the referendum measure if supporters got two-thirds of the lawmakers in both House and Senate to vote for it. The House enactment vote was 97-48, but the Senate’s enactment vote was just short, 21-11.

Much of the voting on the racino legislation highlighted geographic influences, blurring party lines.

Supporters of the racino effort were not surprised by the governor’s action Friday.

“The disappointment came last year when we learned then that he would veto it,” said Fred Moore of Calais, the Passamaquoddy tribal representative to the Legislature. “So not a lot more can be said today, other than the fact that we have a plan to continue moving forward.”

That plan involves a citizens initiative petition drive to put the question out to voters. Tribal leaders submitted an application with state election officials on July 11. A proposed ballot question – “Do you want to allow a Maine tribe to run a harness racing track with slot machines and high-stakes beano games in Washington County?” – was authorized for circulation on petitions in August.

At least 50,519 signatures – 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election – must be submitted by Jan. 30 to get the question on the November 2006 ballot.

More than 40,000 signatures have been collected so far, Moore said Friday, adding that he expects as many as 63,000 signatures by the time the petitions are turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office.

“We are convinced that we will prevail,” he said of the effort to bring a racino to Washington County. “We consider this an ongoing effort, and we believe it will be resolved soon enough.”

Last summer, while outlining his veto plans, Baldacci said he would not oppose a citizens initiative.

“I will not stand in the way of any future effort that places the issue of expansion of casino gambling before the voters,” the governor said.

Baldacci’s veto message Friday made no mention of that position.

“I have never believed that slot machine gambling is a positive contribution to Maine’s economy or quality of life,” the governor wrote in his formal message to the Legislature. “I have made my decisions on slot machine gambling based upon that belief.”

Proposed for Calais or Machias, the racino project is designed to include an all-weather harness racing track, as many as 1,500 slots, and possibly a high-stakes bingo hall and hotel and other facilities.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe would run the horse track, and its proceeds would be distributed to Maine Indian tribes, county development programs, and funds benefiting the harness racing industry and college scholarships.

State voters approved a proposal for racinos to be developed at existing harness racing tracks in 2003.

Penn National Gaming’s slot machine parlor opened in a converted restaurant in Bangor in November. The temporary Hollywood Slots facility, the first of its kind in Maine, is scheduled to be replaced in 2007 by a larger complex.