Three different organizations have collaborated together at the last minute in an effort to modify the language of a casino facility proposal that will be decided on by residents of the state of Maine. However, lawmakers have dismissed the new agreement.
Over 100,000 signatures were gathered for Black Bear Entertainment to develop a casino facility in Oxford County, Maine. Those signatures place the proposal in the hands of the state legislature, which was set to vote yes or no on the casino plan. Regardless of the outcome, the result would have been a public decision on the issue.
Then earlier this week, Hollywood Slots and the Passamaquoddy Tribe decided that they want to be a part of the casino gaming expansion. The three organizations all joined forces and were set to modify the proposal going to state voters. However, legislators stepped in and denied the new gaming plan. Legislators felt that the process was already far too long for any changes to be made to it.
Senator Nancy Sullivan said on March 18th, 2010 that they are saying that as the legislature, they have a better idea than the 100,000 individuals that signed the proposal. She added that she is okay with it if she really believes that they have a better idea. She added that she has not seen all the casino ideas to know what is really better so she thinks that in this case, the people's idea might be better.
There are additional factors to the casino gaming expansion. If the legislature would have permitted the Passamaquoddy Tribe to be involved, there may have been a problem with other tribe's in the state that could have wanted to develop casino facilities in the near future.
Maine is just one of the dozens of states in the US that are considering expanding their casino gaming industries because of the economic recession. Casino gaming revenue has become a popular option for states to help balance their state budgets in the last few years.
04/13/2010 12:40 PM
Richard Kennedy