AUGUSTA — A new anti-casino group has surfaced opposing a bill that would allow for racinos in Biddeford and in Washington County.

On Wednesday, Biddeford attorney Rick Hull filed incorporation papers for the group Mainers Against a Rotten Deal.

Spokesman Christopher O’Neil said Wednesday the group started “around kitchen tables in Biddeford” and isn’t a Political Action Committee yet, but will become one if LD985, which would allow a casino in Lewiston, and LD 1203, a bill that would allow racinos in Biddeford and Washington County, fail and the issues go to referendum.

O’Neil, a government relations consultant, called the passage of the Oxford casino referendum “a colossal failure” for anti-casino groups.

“An occasional press release issued from an ivory tower won’t defeat these things,” O’Neil said in a release from the group. “Full attention and focus are required. It’s time for Mainers who oppose casinos to have a credible and respected voice.”

If the racino bill fails, O’Neil said Mainers Against a Rotten Deal will form a PAC and begin collecting funds to defeat a referendum that would allow Scarborough Downs to move to Biddeford and operate a racino called Biddeford Downs, as well as allowing a tribal casino in Washington County.

“The feeling out there is that Maine has a threshold of tolerance for casino gambling and might have reached it already,” O’Neil said Wednesday. He said the only way to find out is to ask Maine voters.

The Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs is set to hold a public hearing on both bills at 9:30 a.m. Monday, April 25.

treaves@sunjournal.com

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