The Maine House of Representatives may have passed a bill that would legalize online casino, but it seems that the Senate isn’t so sure.
The House passed Rep. Ambureen Rana’s LD 1164 last week by an 85-59 vote, sending it to the opposite chamber.
However, after that House vote on Thursday, a motion to pass the amended approved legislation failed in the Senate, with senators splitting a 17-17 vote. A motion to reconsider that vote also failed.
As of Monday, June 16, the legislation is labeled as unfinished business in the Senate. Maine’s first special session adjourns June 18.
Casinos oppose, rival operators urge rethink
The proposal would grant exclusive online casino gaming rights to the Wabanaki tribes, comprising the Penobscot Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Maliseet Nation and the Mi’kmaq Nation. The tribes would be the only entities authorized to offer content including online slots, poker, blackjack and roulette, in addition to the regulated sports betting they already exclusively provide.
Each Wabanaki Nation would get one operator’s license to contract with an outside vendor, the same set-up that they already have for online sports wagering.
DraftKings and Caesars, the two commercial operators partnered with the Wabanaki for sports betting, both supported the bill alongside the tribes.
However, the tribal-exclusive online casino bill faced stiff opposition from parties including the state’s two commercial casinos, Churchill Downs’ Oxford Casino and PENN Entertainment’s Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway Bangor. The brick-and-mortar operators have argued that online casino would cannibalize land-based gaming revenues and asserted that the bill represents a tribal monopoly.
Churchill Downs is a founding member of the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG) alongside Cordish Companies and Monarch Casinos and Resorts. PENN is not a member of the group but has opposed legislation it did not believe benefited its brick and mortar properties in other states.
FanDuel also testified earlier this year, citing support from BetMGM and Fanatics in doing so, and called for a rethink. The U.S. market leader stressed that tribes should be able to partner with more than one commercial company.
Governmental agency says hold fire
The Maine Gambling Control Unit (MGCU), which also oversees sports betting, would regulate the online casino industry. Under the legislation, online casino gaming would be taxed at 16%, higher than the 10% online sports betting tax rate. That taxable revenue would go towards services such as gambling addiction programs and substance use disorder supports, among others. The tribes would keep the rest for their own use.
But the MGCU’s Executive Director Milton Champion also submitted written testimony in March opposing the bill.
“With the current gambling options in Maine and sports wagering being only in its second year, I do not believe that the addition of igaming is warranted at this time,” wrote Champion. “Additionally, with any gambling expansion comes the increase in harm to problem gamblers. As a result of these concerns, the current administration is not in favor of any expansion of gambling.”
Even if the bill were to get through the Senate, there is no guarantee that Gov. Janet Mills would sign it into law.
The MGCU issued a public statement last week bearing the names of Champion and Mills, in which it reiterated that all online casino remains illegal in the state.
