Maine governor rejects gambling expansion

The governor said that adding a third casino in the state would jeopardise the existing operations in Maine.

US.- Paul LePage, governor of Maine, is against a proposal to bring a third casino in the state as he believes that it was presented in a sketchy way: the proponents said that it would bring better education and more jobs, but LePage claims that it should’ve been introduced as straight up gambling.

The governor believes that the lawmakers behind the ballot are not being “honest and upront” and they’re trying to confuse voters into accepting a proposal that could jeopardise the existing casinos in Bangor and Oxford. However, the ballot would authorise a gambling facility in York County and would share its revenue with veterans, schools, other education entities and social issues.

As the governor said, there is an unusual clause in the proposal that establishes that the only person who would be allowed to ask for a US$5 million state license is Shawn Scott, who has been under the spotlight as state officials are investigating him and his sisters to find out who funded a US$4.3 million initiative to include the proposal land in the ballot.

“This gambling initiative is not an open or fair process. In fact, it’s yet another case of big-money, out-of-state interests using Maine voters to get a sweet deal.” LePage says that the casino market in Maine is already saturated and that the upcoming facilities in Massachusetts are set to attract local players as well. “Opening a casino in York County will not draw new revenue or visitors to the state. It will just shift funds away from our existing casinos.”

Supporters of the facility that would share revenue with the state claim that the governor needs to think “about Maine first and not his friends in Kentucky, because gaming is a competitive industry and Massachusetts is gearing up to capture as much revenue as possible from neighboring states.”