Governor Reverses Opposition to Expanded Gambling By Staff of the Christian Civic League of Maine Feb 3, 2010 - 4:07:27 PM

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In a stunning reversal of his long-held opposition to gambling, Governor John Baldacci has reached a compromise with the Penobscot Nation which will allow a major expansion of gambling in the state. In a hearing before the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee in Augusta, Representative Mitchell of the Penobscot Nation revealed that a meeting was held in the Governor's Office during which the Governor reversed his opposition to LD 1731. The Governor had earlier stated that the bill would allow for a major expansion of gambling in Maine. There was no substantive change to the bill except for the removal of raffle  tickets from the category of products dispensed from the so-called "Lucky Seven" video gaming machines, and the use of tokens to make the devices look more like slot machines. Representative Mitchell, shown in the photo at right, did not reveal the motive for the change in the Governor's position. Mitchell said that Scientific Games, the same company which monitors the slot machines at Hollywood Slots, will be used to monitor the video gaming terminals used by the tribes. The vote to approve the bill was unanimous, without any discussion of Governor Baldacci's compromise.

In another development, elderly veterans neatly dressed in smart-looking American Legion uniforms, one of them walking feebly with a cane, looked on in shock and disbelief as the Committee quickly voted down a bill which would have allowed up to five video gaming terminals on the premises of non-profit organizations.

Gambling at the non-profit organizations, though morally wrong,  would have been extremely limited in comparison to the gambling operations run by Hollywood Slots or the tribes, Hollywood Slots raking in millions of dollars each day. Under the bill, only members of the Legion post would have been allowed to gamble, and the proceeds from the machines would have been approximately one thousand dollars per day.  The outcome of the vote made it clear that the veterans had no political capital to parlay with Maine's ultra-liberal Governor in the hope of obtaining a few of the machines on the Legion posts.  

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