AUGUSTA (AP) – Opponents of a proposed Indian racino in Washington County say the bill that authorizes the facility would also allow slot machines in other areas of Maine. Racino supporters say the criticism is a misguided attempt to derail the proposal.

The antigambling group Casinos No! said Wednesday that a bill calling for a harness-racing track with up to 1,500 slot machines in Washington County would also allow a racino to be built near Indian land in Oxford, Franklin and Somerset counties.

Jamie Kilbreth, a Portland attorney who represents Casinos No!, said the bill would require the racino to be at least 90 miles away from Bangor Raceway and within 45 miles of tribal land.

This includes land the tribes acquired in other regions of the state under the Indian Claims Settlement Act, he said, and would allow a racino in places such as Rumford, Norway, Bridgton, Lewiston and Windham.

“That would not limit it to Washington County. That would include all sorts of places,” Kilbreth said.

Leaders of the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes dismissed the claim, saying the proposal has always been about Washington County right down to the bill’s title: “An Act To Authorize a Tribal Commercial Track and Slot Machines in Washington County.”

Frederick Moore, the Passamaquoddy representative, said Kilbreth’s analysis is part of a Casinos No! effort to spread misinformation about the racino proposal.

Moore said the bill has always been about Washington County, but to prevent confusion he asked for a technical change to the bill to require the racino to be within 45 miles of a tribal reservation. He said that would ensure the tribes build in Washington County.

“When you can’t build a case on the merits, you resort to other things,” Moore said of the racino’s opponents.

Both sides are stepping up efforts to win support as the bill moves toward a vote in the full Legislature. State law allows slot machines only at Bangor Raceway, so the tribes need the legislation to operate a racino.

Donna Loring, a lobbyist for the Penobscot Nation, questioned continued opposition to the racino proposal, saying “on its face it does smack a bit of racism.” She said lawmakers are seeing past the antigambling group and rallying around the tribal proposal.

Valerie Landry, a member of Casinos No! executive committee, said the group opposes the expansion of gambling in Maine no matter who proposes it. The group, which successfully fought against a 2003 proposal to put a tribal casino in Sanford, believes gambling would hurt Maine’s economy, increase government expenses and create social problems, she said.

“Our opposition is very clear, longstanding, on the record, and based on research we have done nationally,” Landry said.

State Sen. Kenneth Gagnon, D-Waterville, who co-chairs the committee that oversaw the bill’s language, agreed that the bill may allow a racino elsewhere in the state.

But the proposal is for a Washington County racino, he said, and its supporters have been the lawmakers and business owners from the county.

“Why are people in southern Maine trying to rain on their parade?” Gagnon asked.

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