AUGUSTA (AP) – The state’s two largest Indian tribes may not be allowed to operate slot machines based on a vote by a legislative committee that crafts rules for gambling in the state.

The Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee voted Wednesday not to consider a plan introduced last week by the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy tribe that would allow them to run slots at Bangor Raceway.

The vote was preliminary, and issues rejected by the committee can be considered again, committee chairman Sen. Ken Gagnon, D-Waterville, said.

Still, rejecting the plan was seen by tribal leaders as a strain on already unsettled relations with the state, where voters in November defeated an initiative for an Indian casino in southern Maine.

“It’s the same old song and dance,” said Rep. Fred Moore, a nonvoting representative of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in the House. “They just want to peddle the same old snake oil they’ve been peddling.”

The plan was presented as an amendment to Gov. John Baldacci’s administration bill, which was designed to tighten regulations for the state’s harness racing tracks. Voters approved the tracks last November.

Committee member Rep. Richard Brown, R-South Berwick, said his vote to exclude the tribes had nothing to do with who presented the proposal, only the timing of the request.

“If I had heard the plan a year ago, that would be a different thing,” he said. “This was just some group trying to get in on the action.”

Bangor officials already have contracted with a private gaming company to operate slots at the city-owned track.

AP-ES-01-29-04 1326EST