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Saturday, June 25, 2005
Backers of racino shooting for 2006
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AUGUSTA — Supporters of a proposed Washington County harness track with slot machines will try to place the idea on a statewide ballot in November 2006, unless the Legislature beats them to it by scheduling a referendum this year. Frederick Moore, the Passamaquoddy Tribe's representative to the Legislature, and Republican state Sen. Kevin Raye of Perry outlined the new plan Friday after Gov. John Baldacci's pledge a day earlier to veto a bill that called for a referendum in November this year. Baldacci had said he would not veto the bill if the House and Senate passed it by two-thirds votes. The House met the threshold but the Senate fell one vote short last week. "We're going to go with an initiative" if the Legislature fails to overturn the veto when it meets in special session later this summer, Moore said. "We're confident that the people of Maine are not opposed to gambling of this form," and that the "few elitists" who oppose racinos do not speak for most Mainers, he said. Baldacci said Friday that he will not oppose the emerging campaign to force a citizen-initiated referendum. But if organizers succeed in placing the issue on the ballot next year, he will speak out against the proposal during the 2006 referendum campaign. Valerie Landry of Casinos No!, which has opposed the racino in the Legislature, vowed to continue the fight if it moves from the State House to the ballot box because "we believe the costs (of a racino) outweigh the benefits." She said she was not surprised that racino backers are planning to push for an initiated referendum because "the casino industry is really persistent." The only way to schedule a racino referendum this November is if the Legislature overrides the governor's veto and sends the issue to voters, because it is too late to force a 2005 referendum by circulating petitions. Organizers of a petition drive would have to collect 50,519 voter signatures by Jan. 30, 2006, to force a referendum in November 2006, said Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn. "The best thing for us to do is to appeal to the voters of the state" by collecting enough signatures to place the racino on the ballot in 2006, Moore said. He said the odds of getting two-thirds votes in the House and Senate to override the veto and have the Legislature schedule a referendum in 2005 are "slim to none." Maine voters defeated a referendum in 2003 that would have authorized a tribal casino in southern Maine, but they approved a separate referendum that year authorizing racinos at existing horse tracks, with local approval. The only racino plan that is moving forward under that voter-approved law calls for a racino in Bangor. The Passamaquoddy Tribe, which has two reservations in impoverished Washington County, has been working with that county's legislative delegation and other allies to build support for a racino there, where boosters see the plan as an economic-development tool. Baldacci, who believes a racino would send gamblers into bankruptcy and carry other "high societal costs," has twice blocked the tribe's efforts in the Legislature. "I believe there's no doubt that an initiative will be undertaken" to let the voters place the issue on the ballot in 2006, Raye, the state senator, said Friday. Other Washington County lawmakers agreed that an initiated referendum is all but certain because county residents, tribal members and other racino supporters believe it is important to submit the plan to voters. Baldacci's veto decision ended several days of speculation about what he would do. But the governor said Friday he never wavered in his opposition to the bill. Baldacci said he did not reveal his intentions until Thursday, one week after the Legislature backed the bill, because he had been preoccupied with passage of a state budget, and because it was initially unclear whether the Senate had embraced the referendum by the two-thirds vote he had insisted upon. The final Senate vote was 21-11, and 21 is only a fraction less than two-thirds of the 32 senators who cast votes. "I've consistently been opposed to casinos and racinos" and the referendum bill was no exception, Baldacci said Friday. The job now, he said, is to continue working on better forms of economic development for Washington County. Staff Writer Paul Carrier can be contacted at 622-7511 or at: ONLINE POLL DO YOU THINK Gov. Baldacci can be convinced to change his mind on his planned veto of a racino referendum? Tell us at MaineToday.com.
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