Maine House Defeats Bill to Give Tribes Online Gambling Exclusivity

The Maine House of Representatives voted 74-71 against a bill that would have granted the exclusive rights to online gambling to the Wabanaki tribes in the state.

The proposal would have been an extension of the exclusive rights to sports betting that belong to the Wabanaki, which was voted into law during Maine’s previous legislative session. 

Opponents Want Land-Based Casinos Included

However, opponents expressed strong reservations against giving the tribe more exclusive access to mobile gaming. They asked why existing brick-and-mortar casino operators were being cut out of the online gambling space, as they seemingly had the most to lose from potential cannibalization.

“As much as I want to play online poker, this isn’t the way to do it,” Rep. David Boyer (R-Poland) said, via the Portland Press Herald. “I’m concerned with the jobs that are at stake in Oxford and Bangor. The tax rates are not comparable. The brick-and-mortar casinos have a very high tax rate.”

Republicans spearheaded the opposition to the bill, with just one Republican member – Rep. Roger Albert (R-Madawaska) voting in favor of the bill. Democrats were largely in favor of the measure, but nine Democratic members crossed the aisle and voted against the bill, sinking the legislation.

Representatives who pushed for the bill said concerns over tribal exclusivity were misguided. Rep. Laura Supica (D-Bangor), who has the Hollywood Casino and Hotel in the district, sponsored the legislation and argued that it would help mitigate earlier inequities in gaming policy.

“Much of the concern comes from the fact that it is exclusively for the tribes,” Supica said in defense of the legislation. “But for me that is why I wholeheartedly support it, because this is a wonderful opportunity for the state of Maine to begin to make some corrections to how they have enacted past gaming laws.”

Senate Could Still Save Gambling Legislation

While the bill – known as LD1777 – lost out in the House, the Maine Senate will still get the chance to vote on it as well. Should the Senate pass the legislation, then it will go back to the House for another vote. Given the close nature of the first vote in the House, supporters are hopeful that they might be able to flip a handful of votes to pass the legislation on a second attempt.

However, there are obstacles that make even that possibility a longshot. First, the Maine legislature is only in session through April 17. That means the Senate would have to take up the bill, then pass it – far from a certainty in its own right – and then get the bill back to the House for another vote, which would need to be successful. All of this would need to happen in the span of one week.

Even if that all happened, there’s also the possibility that Maine Governor Janet Mills could potentially veto the bill. The Democrat did veto a 2020 bill that would have given Maine’s tribes exclusive rights to online sports betting, though she later signed a similar piece of legislation last year. Mills has yet to make any public opinion on LD1777.

The online gambling bill was not the only news in Maine gaming circles this week. On Wednesday, the Maine Gambling Control Unit (MGCU) issued a public notice that five daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators would be leaving the state. Those included Bidventures, Boom Shakalaka, Data Force, Sportshub, and Underdog. 

Underdog had previously caught the ire of Maine regulators. In October 2023, the MGCU fined Underdog $391,850 for allegedly violating state regulations with its pick’em DFS contests.

(Image: Bruce Leighty/Alamy)