Legislative leaders put racino bill on fast track

AUGUSTA – While legislative leaders conferred Wednesday with Passamaquoddy tribal leaders on a new racino bill, gambling opponents were preparing another campaign to defeat the legislation.

A joint order of the House and Senate is expected to be approved today requiring the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee to craft a bill “authorizing a referendum to authorize a tribal commercial track and slot machines in Washington County.”

The House sustained the governor’s veto of similar legislation Tuesday, largely because the bill had become outdated since its approval by lawmakers last June.

Proponents of the latest racino plan, modeled after Bangor’s Hollywood Slots enterprise, envision a June referendum vote, but in Washington County only. The legislation would have to be passed with a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate in order to become law immediately and also to discourage an anticipated veto threat from Gov. John E. Baldacci.

Rep. Eddie Dugay, D-Cherryfield, and Sen. Kevin Raye, R-Perry, promised to work on both sides of the aisle in the weeks ahead to obtain the supermajority support the bill will require. While the tribe continues to collect signatures to meet a Jan. 30 deadline in order to place the racino proposal before voters across the state on the November ballot, Dugay said the legislative option could alleviate considerable expense for the tribe and preclude the need for a statewide referendum.

“If we can get the joint order into committee, get the bill back out and pass it in the House and Senate before Jan. 30, the tribe would disengage the signature campaign,” Dugay said. “So we have a lot of pressure on us right now. We’re up against it in many different ways.”

One of the significant obstacles the tribe and its proponents are likely to encounter in the weeks ahead is Dennis Bailey of Savvy Inc., a Portland public relations firm that has spearheaded several anti-gambling campaigns. Bailey said Wednesday he would have to wait until the bill came out of committee before determining the scope of an anti-racino campaign.

“But we will be doing something,” he said.

A major sticking point for Bailey, and some lawmakers, is the racino proponents’ insistence on limiting the referendum vote to Washington County. Such a tactic, he said, could produce a chain reaction across the state.

“In 2003, Washington County voted against a casino in Sanford, so now they’re saying they want one for themselves?” Bailey asked. “If they’re going to give it to Washington County, what’s going to happen when Waldo County comes in or Franklin County comes in and says ‘We want it, too?” How do you say ‘no’?”

Dugay said Bangor’s experience with its racino has prompted lawmakers to rethink their positions on gambling. During the last two months of 2005, Hollywood Slots produced net revenue of a little more than $4 million, about $2 million of which was paid out in state taxes. The need for a statewide vote on a Washington County facility is no longer necessary, Dugay said, since there is already a racino in Maine.

“The policy for a commercial race track with a racino has already been set,” he said. “The state of Maine has agreed to it. It’s true there is currently no commercial track in Washington County. But if we can get this particular bill passed and have an exclusive vote in Washington County, that track will exist.”

Although there may be enough support for two-thirds in the House, the Senate will be a closer call. Last year, a similar proposal failed to meet the supermajority threshold by a single vote when the Senate voted 21-11 in favor of the plan. Raye said he won’t be wasting too much time trying to convert die-hard gambling opponents.

“Obviously the hard-and-fast gaming opponents have never supported this in the first place,” Raye said. “It remains to be seen whether we will have the votes this time. I’m hopeful, but I won’t predict. Last year’s vote was painful.”

Before any new racino bill can make it to the floor of the House and Senate for a vote, it must be crafted and approved by the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee. Ten-term lawmaker Rep. John Tuttle, D-Sanford, is a current member and past House chairman of the panel. He said the committee’s accelerated timetable and passions associated with the issue do little to help the racino’s cause.

“The time element is going to be tough and while I understand what they’re trying to do, rushing it like this when it’s as controversial as it is … well, I wish them luck, but it’s going to be very difficult,” Tuttle said.