Bill allowing Wabanaki tribes to offer online gambling falters

Both the Maine House and Senate have voted against a bill that would have given the Wabanaki Nations the exclusive right to offer online gambling in the state.

The four Wabanaki tribes already offer online sports betting in the state under an earlier compromise negotiated between tribal leaders, Gov. Janet Mills and state lawmakers. Those mobile betting platforms — operated by major players in the gaming industry — launched last year.

But an effort to extend that exclusive authority to online casino-style games faltered this week in the Legislature. The bill, LD 1777, failed on a 71-74 vote in the House on Monday. It then failed on a 14-20 vote in the Senate on Tuesday, although senators later tabled the bill and could bring it back up. 

Republican Sen. Jeff Timberlake of Turner was among those who voted against the bill.

"This is basically saying people can sit at home and play slot machines on their computer all day long, and I just don't think it's the right thing to do," Timberlake said. "It's a real expansion of gambling in the state of Maine."

The bill was strongly opposed by the operators of Maine's two existing casinos, Hollywood Casino in Bangor and Oxford Casino in Oxford.

But supporters like Sen. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, said there are already ways for Maine residents to evade the technological roadblocks that are supposed to prevent them from using online gambling sites in other states.

"So despite our frustrations or our feeling and our personal inclinations towards gambling . . . it is already happening in our state," Brenner said. "So if we want to bring that activity into the light and allow our tribes to have an economic opportunity from it . . . I believe that it's important for us to support the measure."

Tribal leaders have tried for several decades without success, both in the Legislature and at the ballot box, to win authorization to build brick-and-mortar casinos in Maine.