Oxford County Casino project takes another step, CasinosNO! prepares for fight

The Oxford County Casino citizen’s initiative will move forward, the Secretary of State’s office determined today.

The office was able to confirm 59,504 of the 77,177 signatures collected. They needed 55,087. 17,673 were invalid for a number of reasons.

The issue will next be presented in a public hearing before the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee. If the committee passes it, the matter will go before the full Legislature. If the Legislature passes it, it will go to the Governor’s desk.

“(Gov. John Baldacci) does not support expansion of gambling,” David Farmer, a spokesman for the governor, said last month. “If the Legislature were to pass it, he would not support it, which would be a veto.”

If Baldacci vetoes it, or it fails in either of the two previous stages, it will go before the public for a vote in November. The question for voters would be: “Do you want to allow a certain Maine company to have the only casino in Maine, to be located in Oxford County, if part of the revenue is used to fund specific state programs?”

The Legislature rejected similar legislation last year. Then, in November, voters rejected a proposed tribal racino in Washington County by a narrow margin.

Seth Carey, a Rumford lawyer, is spearheading the issue under the company name Evergreen Mountain Enterprises. He envisions a full-fledged, Las Vegas style casino with slot machines, table games and card games.

The bill also lowers the gambling age from 21 to 19, and allows 18-year-olds to work in the casino.

Forty percent of the revenue would go to a number of causes, including research for an east-west highway, student loan repayment programs, alternative energy programs, health care and other causes. A full list can be found in the proposed statute (Sec. 59.8). Bill language gives the Attorney General the authority to reallocate funds if there is a similar program already being funded. If a program supporting the cause outlined in statute does not exist, those funds will instead go to a student loan repayment program.

“The overall general intention of the fund is to develop and realize the vast potential of this State without compromising the public health or natural resources. The programs in this subsection are intended to provide jobs, opportunities, health care, education, protection of the environment and advancement of the overall quality of life for residents of this State,” the statute states.

The statute gives the operator of Evergreen Mountain Enterprises authority to choose where in the county the casino will be, although voters of the town must approve it.

None of this appeases Dennis Bailey, executive director of CasinosNO!, the anti-casino lobby. The group received $404,000 in contributions in 2007, and ended the year with a balance of $8,072.

“Casino operators are known for their greed, but this bill outdoes them all,” Bailey said in a release.

He points out a clause in the language that would repeal the statewide limit on slot machines, and that no other casino could be authorized in Maine for 10 years.

“Along with a monopoly on casino gambling, this bill is nothing more than a power grab by casino promoters who are out to get control of every corner of the state,” Bailey said.

He also points out statute language stating the president of the casino would be a voting member of any entity getting casino revenue.

“Do we really want the head of a casino making all kinds of decisions about higher education, land conservation and health care spending?” Bailey said.