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Friday, March 30, 2007
AUGUSTA - The Passmaquoddy Tribe's legislative representative said Thursday he is optimistic the full Legislature will approve a bill allowing a tribal-run harness racing track with slot machines now that a legislative committee has endorsed the proposal.
The Legislature's Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee voted 12-1 Wednesday in support of a plan to allow a racino in Washington County. The committee vote came a little more than two months after the secretary of state verified enough signatures on a citizen initiative to place the measure before the Legislature.
If the proposal fails in the Legislature, it would go to residents for a statewide vote in November, said Rep. Donald Soctomah, the Passamaquoddy tribal representative.
A racino resort -- with a hotel, a conference center and restaurants -- would go a long way toward helping Washington County, where poverty and unemployment rates are double the state average and annual incomes are the lowest in Maine, he said.
"That part of the state seems to be forgotten when it comes to economic development," he said. "This isn't a cure-all. It's just a first step to bringing tourists to the area as a destination point."
The committee vote is one step in a multistep process the proposal must go through before it eventually is approved or rejected, either by legislators or voters.
Opposition is likely to come from the antigambling group Casinos No!, which led the campaign that successfully opposed a proposed $650 million casino project that the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes sought to build in southern Maine.
Gov. John Baldacci also opposes racino development in the state, and he vetoed racino legislation in 2005 that would have allowed the tribe to operate a harness racing track with slot machines in Washington County.
Soctomah said he is hopeful that Baldacci would let the bill become law this time around if legislators pass it. If not, he thinks enough legislators might support the effort to override a veto.
Reader comments
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A referendum isn't the way to go on this issue.report abuse
Is this going to be like CT's casino and resort?
Tickets to concerts cost more than any other venue and rooms at the hotels are more expensive than most.
But their raking in millions upon millions from the gambling.
They got greedy.
Is the Passamaquoddy tribe going to get greedy once the money from those wealthy Washington County people starts rolling in?
Why does it have to be gambling?
Why not build a resort that everyone will be clamoring to go to? Something different and unexpectd. That would be novel.report abuse
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