AUGUSTA – People who breed, own and race horses turned out Wednesday to tell lawmakers the governor is attempting to kill slot machines in Maine with heavy handed regulation.

Horsemen, including the veterinarian featured in the pro-Question 2 ads, said on their side are the voters, who on Nov. 4 approved Question 2 that allowed slot machines at two horse tracks. Gov. John Baldacci’s proposal is not only intended to regulate slots, “it is intended to prevent slot machines in Maine,” said Denise McNitt of Cumberland.

Gambling opponents led by CasinosNO! showed up to support the governor, saying if there’s going to be big-time gambling in Maine there needs to be tough regulation. And if any substantial changes are made to what Baldacci proposed the entire slot machine question should be sent back to the voters, they said.

The crowd filled three hearing rooms.

At issue was raging debate over what Mainers voted for and the deadline for when a track must have secured local approval for slot machines.

Language behind the ballot said local approval had to be secured by Dec. 31, 2003. In his proposed modification of the referendum, Baldacci left those dates alone. If passed by lawmakers, that would mean that Bangor Raceways could have slot machines since it won local approval last year, but Scarborough Downs could not because it failed to win local approval from not only Scarborough, but Westbrook and Saco.

Horsemen urged lawmakers on the Legal and Veterans Affair Committee to give Scarborough Downs more time to find a home in southern Maine.

Bill Hathaway, past president of the Maine Harness Horsemen Association, said the governor’s proposal “really appears to be a veiled attempt to derail the slots in Maine.” His proposed regulations are excessive, Hathaway said, saying a janitor working at a track would have to be fingerprinted and investigated.

Butch McKenzie of Etna, president of the Maine Harness Horsemen Association, agreed, saying Maine voters approved slot machines at “both” commercial racetracks. Horsemen oppose Baldacci’s proposal that would give the state police, and not the Maine Harness Commission, oversight authority of the slot machines. “This is another stall tactic,” McKenzie said. “This is not what Maine people voted for.”

Anti-gambling activist Rep. Mary Black Andrews of York sharply disagreed.

Voters weren’t given the full story, and if they knew the facts the outcome would have been different, Andrews said. “What people thought they were voting on were a few slot machines to help out the harness racing industry. What has happened is a casino has come in the backdoor, and they (voters) are upset they were not given the facts.”

Since the election the public has seen Bangor Raceway owner Shawn Scott sponsor a political action committee to hurt Scarborough Downs chances of getting slots in local votes, and the two tracks have been “bickering back and forth,” Andrews observed. “This is not what the citizens of Maine were voting for.”

Mary Alice Tripp of Saco voted for Question 2 because she wanted to help the elderly afford medicine, students afford an education, and support the harness industry. She did not understand until after the election, and after Scarborough Downs wanted to come to her town, that passage meant the track could move and have hundreds of slot machines, she said.

Also testifying for the bill was Dennis Bailey of CasinosNO! backed by the presence of L.L. Bean Chairman Leon Gorman.

Finding problems with Baldacci’s proposal were Scarborough Downs owner Sharon Terry, Steven Synder of Penn National, who wants to place slot machines in southern Maine, and Bangor Raceway lawyer Bruce Gerrity.

The Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee will take testimony until Monday by e-mail at: racino.comments@legislature.maine.gov. The committee will debate the bill at 1 p.m. Jan. 14.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

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