AUGUSTA (AP) – Lobbying for a bill supported by the Passamaquoddy Indian Tribe that would allow slot machines at a harness racing facility in eastern Maine approached a climax Tuesday with Gov. John Baldacci poised to veto the measure.

“It’s very clear to me that people lose out,” Baldacci said shortly before a meeting with tribal leaders at the Blaine House.

The bill, heavily lobbied on both sides, won passage in the House and Senate last week, despite Baldacci’s signals that it could be subject to a veto.

Support in the House of Representatives was broad, 87-46, but less so in the Senate, 19-15. Majorities of at least two-thirds in both chambers would be needed to override a veto.

“The people of Maine are not opposed to racinos,” Passamaquoddy Tribal Rep. Frederick Moore said Tuesday. “The Legislature enacted racino legislation for Washington County. Virtually every poll or survey you can find indicates between 65 and 85 percent of those surveyed support the idea.”

Racino proponents have noted that in 1993 when he was serving in the Maine Senate, Baldacci co-sponsored a bill to authorize the Passamaquoddy Tribe to operate a casino on tribal land in Calais.

Baldacci said Tuesday his concerns about the social costs of gambling had grown in the intervening years.

“There’s a lot more information,” he said.

Following the Blaine House meeting, which lasted close to two hours, Moore and Baldacci aide Lee Umphrey said neither side had changed position. Both, however, left open the possibility that a referendum on the issue could be considered.

“That’s something the tribes … would have to discuss and decide for themselves,” Moore said.

“The administration would be amenable to having the people vote,” Umphrey said. “We left the meeting with a willingness to discuss that as an option.”

In the House on the enactment vote, according to the clerk’s office, voting yes were 48 Democrats, 38 Republicans and the chamber’s lone Green party member, John Eder of Portland. Opposing the measure in the House were 19 Democrats, 26 Republicans and independent Rep. Richard Woodbury of Yarmouth.

The final Senate tally had nine Democrats and 10 Republicans voting yes, with 10 Democrats and five Republicans voting no.

AP-ES-06-07-05 1829EDT