Maine Senate Sinks Bill to Give Tribes Exclusive Online Casino Rights

Online gambling expansion efforts in Maine fell just short in both the state’s Senate and House this week, with land-based casino interests opposed to its plan for tribal exclusivity online.  (Image: Jorge Garrido/Alamy)

The Maine Senate chose not to save a bill that would have awarded an exclusive online casino license to the Wabanaki Nations tribes in the state on Tuesday, voting down the same bill the state House rejected just a day earlier.

The Maine House voted 74-71 against the legislation on Monday, with the Senate voting it down by a 20-14 margin on Tuesday.

Tabled Bill Has Little Time for Revival This Session

The legislation may not be entirely dead. The Senate chose to table the bill, meaning it could be discussed again during the current legislative session. However, with the session set to close on April 17, time is short for any movement on online gambling in Maine this spring. 

Maine lawmakers have already given some exclusive gaming rights to the Wabanaki. In May 2022, legislators approved online sports betting in the state, but only allowed the tribes to offer such games. That wasn’t initially the plan, but Governor Janet Mills offered the games to the Wabanaki Nation as a gesture of good will in light of their inability to earn federal recognition.

The new legislation, LD 1777, would have extended those rights to include exclusive access to offering online casino games. But that proposal has been far more controversial for at least two reasons.

First, the legislation has been opposed by the Hollywood Casino in Bangor and the Oxford Casino in Oxford. Those are the only two brick-and-mortar casinos in Maine, and both would have been excluded from offering online casinos. That led to fears that internet gaming might cannibalize revenues from these two sites.

“As much as I want to play online poker, this isn’t the way to do it,” Representative David Boyer (R-Poland) said in the House discussion of the bill. “I’m concerned with the jobs that are at stake in Oxford and Bangor.”

Maine Senators Balk at Additional Gaming Expansion

The second objection raised was related to the significant expansion of gambling that this bill would represent, regardless of who got to offer the new games. 

“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,” Senator Jeff Timberlake (R-Turner) told Maine Public Radio. “It’s a real expansion of gambling in the state of Maine.”

The majority of Democrats have backed the bill – though with a significant number of defections, which helped to kill the bill in both chambers – while virtually all Republicans have opposed it. Lawmaker in support of the bill have argued that it would provide economic opportunities for the Wabanaki and take money away from unregulated overseas gambling sites.

“Despite our frustrations or our feeling and our personal inclinations towards gambling…it is already happening in our state,” Senator Stacy Brenner (D-Scarborough) said during Tuesday’s debate. “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.”

Only seven states currently offer legalized and regulated online casino gambling, most of which are in the northeast. The list includes Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and most recently Rhode Island, which launched its online casino games in March 2024.