AUGUSTA – There would only be one community in Maine that could have slot machines, Bangor, and there could only be 1,500 slots in the state, according to proposed changes to the racino referendum released Monday by Gov. John Baldacci.

The proposed referendum changes will be aired at 2 p.m. Wednesday during a public hearing at the State House.

Language behind the ballot question approved by voters on Nov. 4 said that individual towns and cities had to approve slots in their community by Dec. 31, 2003. Slots were approved in Bangor last year, but voters in Scarborough, Saco and Westbrook have said no. That means if legislators approve Baldacci’s changes, only Bangor Raceway and not Scarborough Downs would have slot machines. During the November campaign Scarborough Downs supported passage of Question 2, gambling that it could win local approval for slots.

Other proposed changes released Monday by Baldacci would:

• Limit the number of slots to 1,500 per track, or 3,000 maximum for the state. Since only Bangor could have slots, the maximum in Maine would be 1,500.

• Take regulation from the Harness Racing Commission, which some say has close ties to the harness industry, and give it to the state police.

• Not allow the slot machine licenses to be transferred, as the referendum language does.

• Maintain the 75/25 split of slot profits, but mandate that track owners and not taxpayers pay for costs of gambling, such as regulation and decreased business to the Maine State Lottery.

Specifically, slot machine licensing would be decided by a gambling control board, a new division of the Department of Public Safety. That would mean Shawn Scott, who plans to install slot machines at Bangor Raceway, would not be able to do so immediately. He would have to come under the scrutiny of the new gambling board. “That would take some time. It would not be instantly,” Public Safety Commissioner Michael Cantara said Monday. And refusal to answer any financial or other necessary questions would be grounds for denying a license, the commissioner said.

Baldacci’s changes respect what voters approved but protect the public, Cantara said. “The regulatory structure and oversight which was sorely lacking is remedied,” he said.

Unlike the referendum, Baldacci’s proposal would give state police the power to institute more stringent limits on who may receive a license, and increases oversight such as criminal background checks for key players and employees, he said.

Baldacci’s proposal would also mandate that police have computerized monitoring of gambling to watch the money, another weakness that the referendum didn’t authorize, Cantara said.

Some criticize the law’s favoring of tracks, giving slot machine owners 75 percent of the profits, and leaving 1 percent for administration, 11 percent for horsemen and fairs and 13 percent to benefit taxpayers. Baldacci’s proposal mandates that slot owners pay for expenses, but leaves the ratio alone. “This demonstrates the administration’s respect of the will of the voters,” Cantara said.

The governor’s proposal will be aired before the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee in Room 436 of the State House.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link