AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci on Tuesday said he will sign a bill this week that paves the way for up to 1,500 slot machines at Bangor Raceway.

“I’ll be signing it affirmatively and I’m looking forward to signing it,” Baldacci said just minutes after the Senate, in a lopsided vote, gave its final approval to LD 1820, which imposes strict controls on what will be the state’s newest form of gambling. “I want to get this thing up and running.”

The governor said he expects to sign the bill before Friday, possibly in Bangor. It will mark a milestone in the contentious effort to open the racetrack casino, first allowed by a citizen-initiated referendum in November.

Even after the bill becomes law, the Bangor track isn’t likely to have slots for several months because the state’s newly formed gambling control board still must adopt licensing and operating rules.

Baldacci’s signature is unlikely to end the controversy over the arrival of slots in Maine, as many industry officials still object to a new tax added to the bill in its final days that roughly doubles the state’s share of slots revenue compared to the original referendum.

Officials with Penn National Gaming, the company poised to operate slots in Bangor, expressed disappointment with the Senate’s 29-3 approval of the bill. The new tax therein, Penn officials explained, could derail – or at least delay – the $30 million project.

“In Economics 101, the first thing you learn is the more you tax something the less you’ll get,” Penn spokesman Eric Schippers said early Tuesday evening.

Penn’s public misgivings, voiced often during the bill’s fitful final days in the Legislature, were shared by some in the struggling harness racing industry.

“Let’s just hope the gamblers – and in this case that’s the governor and the Legislature – are right that there will be a racino in Bangor,” said Denise McNitt of the Maine Harness Horsemen’s Association. “I’m not that confident … not by a long shot.”

At a news conference earlier in the day, Baldacci’s closest aides took aim at McNitt’s group for a series of newspaper, radio and television advertisements alleging the anti-gambling governor was trying to derail the “racino” project by imposing the hefty new tax.

“Lies, innuendo and intimidation are not how we do business in Maine,” said Kurt Adams, Baldacci’s chief counsel.

Baldacci, Adams explained, did not propose the new tax, which raises the effective tax rate on the project to 49 percent. A legislative committee added the tax, he said, not the governor, who has consistently said he wished only to cover state administrative costs.

The group later pulled the ads Tuesday, but defended their accuracy.

“We needed to call attention to the issue, and we made our point,” McNitt said.

McNitt also revealed Tuesday the ads were paid for by the Las Vegas-based company Capital Seven, whose owner, Shawn Scott, became a magnet for controversy in the early days of the slots debate before selling his interest in the Bangor track to Penn National.

Scott’s return to the Maine debate sparked ire among many at the State House, including visiting Bangor Mayor Dan Tremble.

“We would be happy in Bangor if [Scott] stayed out of the process,” said Tremble, also disputing the ad’s claims that the governor has sought to stall the opening of a Bangor racino.