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Maine Brings Online Gaming to Special Session

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

There have been several surprises in the 2023 legislative sessions across America with regard to igaming proposals. Maine is one of those.

In a surprise move – and one that took place quite late in the session – Maine lawmakers put a bill on the table to consider igaming as a new economic opportunity for Wabanaki Nations. While the bill appears to be simply resting on the table since its late-April introduction, its mere presence carves space for yet another possible addition to the igaming market in the United States.

Wabanaki Nations Wants iGaming

The bill popped up on April 25, months after most legislation hits the committees for consideration in a new year. In fact, this was an introduction to the legislature’s first special session of 2023.

Representative Laura Supica presented LD1777, and cosponsors were listed as State Senator Craig Hickman, Representatives Ambureen Rana and Amy Roeder, House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, and Senate President Troy Jackson.

Legislative document (LD) 1777, also listed as HP1140, is “an act to create economic opportunity for Wabanaki Nations through internet gaming.” Via the proposed Chapter 37 of gaming laws in the state of Maine, the bill requires that all igaming operating in Maine must acquire a license. And internet gaming is defined as “a game of skill or chance offered through the internet in which an individual wagers money or something of monetary value for the opportunity to win money or something of monetary value.” Specifically, it does not include par-mutuel wagering or fantasy contests.

Key parts of the bill include the following provisions:

-1. License applicants must be federally-recognized Indian nations, tribes, or bands in Maine.

-2. The initial or renewal fee for an igaming license will be $200K.

-3. Licenses will be valid for four years.

-4. Temporary licenses may be granted for one year.

-5. The legal gambling age will be 21.

-6. Licensees may seize igaming winnings to pay child support debt.

-7. Operators must distribute 10% of adjusted gross receipts to the Treasurer of State (1% for gambling addiction prevention and treatment, 1% for administrative expenses, 4% for the E-911 fund, 2% for opioid addiction prevention and treatment, and 2% for emergency housing relief).

-8. The Maine Department of Public Safety’s Gambling Control Unit will regulate the industry.

The bill immediately went to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs, where it has remained untouched since its introduction.

Building on Sports Betting

Wabanaki Nations celebrated a legislative victory last year. In May 2022, Governor Janet Mills signed LD585 into law, a bill that legalized sports betting.

The law provided something for everyone. The state’s two land-based casinos – Hollywood Casino in Bangor and Oxford Casino in Oxford – obtained the right to offer retail sports betting services to customers in person. Off-track betting parlors could do the same. And three Wabanaki tribes – Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation, and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians – won the exclusive right to offer online or mobile sports betting to residents of Maine.

No sports betting operators have launched as of May 2023, but the goal remains to launch retail sports betting later in 2023 and online sites by January 2024. The regulatory process has been taking a long time to develop and submit regulations for approval, as advertising limitations have been the subject of discussions for much of 2023.

Part of a Larger Partnership

The aforementioned Maine-based tribes, along with the Mi’kmaq Nation, were all parties to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act in 1980. The tribes did not obtain everything they wanted, but they hoped to build on the document through the years. On the contrary, the tribes felt that they lost their sovereignty and that Maine did not live up to its settlement promises.

In 2020, the four tribes banded together to form the Wabanaki Alliance. They wanted to speak with one voice to work towards a better relationship with the state.

It worked. In the summer of 2022, US lawmakers in Congress passed the Advancing Equality for Wabanaki Nations Act. Bipartisan support pushed the bill through Congress, with Maine Congresspeople headed up the delegation to update federal laws in recognition of Wabanaki tribes.

The sports betting project is one step in a long line of steps that Wabanaki Nations would like to see. The igaming component would be another step in that direction.

 

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