Senate likely to vote next week on Washington County racino

AUGUSTA – Attendance, major State House events and an unforeseen tragedy all played a role in delaying a Senate vote this week aimed at clearing the way for a referendum to allow a tribal commercial racetrack and slot machines in Washington County.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Brennan, D-Portland, said a vote on the proposal could be held either Wednesday or Thursday.

But prospects for an affirmative vote in the Senate appeared to be dimming Friday, according to several Senate leaders. In addition to strong feelings about gambling, senators on both sides of the aisle are apprehensive over the tribe’s desire to have a Washington County-only vote on the referendum question.

The House already has approved by a 98-44 vote the joint order directing the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee to develop and report out a bill calling for a Washington County-only referendum on a tribal racino and racetrack.

Sen. Kenneth Gagnon, D-Waterville, and the Senate chairman of the committee where the order would be directed said the Senate Democratic caucus is divided between those who favor it, those who do not and those who agree to send the order to the committee for the purpose of reporting out a bill they would later oppose.

In several instances, Gagnon said senators expressed concerns about the tribe’s precedent-setting demand of superseding state law for a specific gambling enterprise in a county referendum instead of sending the question forward for a statewide vote.

It was not clear to Gagnon Friday how the process would even be implemented if the Senate actually supported the joint order.

The question of allowing a county to be exempted from a state law that limits gambling to specific locales, he said, might be more properly brought before the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee.

“It’s going to take some research to figure out how, constitutionally, we can allow one county to change state law – and I suspect that they can’t – so I don’t know if we’d have to pass two bills or a bill that would say state law can be changed concerning gaming for a specified period of time or what,” said Gagnon, who supports the tribal racino. “It could be handled by two committees, or we could simply send it to out to be dealt with on the floor. The first hurdle is getting the order done, and I’m not sure I have the votes to get the order out.”

Brennan, who strongly opposes the tribal racino, said that, as the Democratic floor leader, he has told his senators to vote their conscience. He estimated the order has a 50-50 chance of passing at best.

In addition to Tuesday’s funeral for Passamaquoddy Gov. Melvin Francis, the Legislature was caught up this week in Gov. John E. Baldacci’s State of the State address, a $178 million supplemental budget request, and numerous absences due to a light Senate calendar. All of those factors played a role in delaying the Senate vote.

GOP Senate floor leader Paul Davis of Sangerville also said the plan had mixed support among Republicans, adding more people were concerned about the precedent created by holding a gambling vote in Washington County only.

“That may be fine in Calais, but take two areas like Dexter and Dover-Foxcroft,” he said. Dexter is located in Penobscot County and Dover-Foxcroft is in Piscataquis.

“If Dexter wanted a racino, there’s no way in this world that Dexter could have a racino without affecting Dover-Foxcroft. A county-only vote wouldn’t work because folks in Dover-Foxcroft would have no say because they’re 12 miles away in a different county. I think there’s a good chance that the joint order will lose in the Senate.”

Meanwhile, throughout the week, Dennis Bailey of Savvy Inc. has been working the phones with members of his Casinos No! group to lobby lawmakers against the racino order.

“Our members have making calls to legislators and we’re circulating an editorial and making an effort to defeat this,” he said Friday. “We’re telling people that regardless of what you think of gambling, this countywide vote is a very odd precedent.”

The tribe is pushing for a quick turnaround on the racino bill, which supporters would like to have on the House floor before Jan. 30.

The best-case scenario for the tribe, according to Passamaquoddy Tribal Rep. Fred Moore, would be a June vote on the question held in Washington County only.

The tribe is collecting petition signatures to meet a separate Jan. 30 deadline in order to place the racino proposal before voters in a statewide referendum in November.