AUGUSTA (AP) – The Passmaquoddy Tribe’s legislative representative said Thursday he is optimistic the full Legislature will approve a bill allowing a tribal-run harness racing track with slot machines following a committee vote in favor of the proposal.

The Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee voted 12-1 Wednesday in support of a plan to allow for a racino in Washington County. The committee vote came a little more than two months after the secretary of state verified enough signatures on a citizen initiative to place the measure before the Legislature.

If the proposal fails in the Legislature, it would likely go to residents for a statewide vote, said Rep. Donald Soctomah, the Passamaquoddy tribal representative. A racino would go a long way toward helping Washington County, where poverty and unemployment rates are double the state average and annual incomes the lowest in Maine, he said.

“That part of the state seems to be forgotten when it comes to economic development,” he said. “This isn’t a cure-all, it’s just a first step to bringing tourists to the area as a destination point.”

The committee vote is one step in a multistep process the proposal must go through before it is eventually approved or rejected, by legislators or voters.

Opposition is likely to come from the antigambling group Casinos No!, which led the campaign that successfully opposed a proposed $650 million casino project that the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes sought to build in southern Maine.

Gov. John Baldacci also opposes racino development in the state, and vetoed racino legislation in 2005 that would have allowed the tribe to operate a harness racing track with slot machines in Washington County.

Soctomah said he is hopeful that Baldacci would let the bill become law this time around if it is passed by legislators. If not, he thinks enough legislators might support the effort to override a veto.