A plan to put a 12-month moratorium on new casinos in Maine, starting next September, while a new commission studies the impact of the state’s two gambling facilities, may be an idea whose time has come.
But it may also be an idea whose time has passed.
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The bill, L.D. 1987, is sponsored by Rep. Linda Valentino, D-Saco, a long-time advocate of evaluating the effects of casino gambling.
The proposal, which got preliminary approval in the House this week, would establish an 18-member commission tasked with reporting back to lawmakers in February 2014 with specific ideas on how Maine could create a “competitive bidding process” for new venues for gambling.
The process would take the place of current laws requiring that casinos be approved by both lawmakers and voters.
The plan is getting support now because voters turned down two casino proposals last year, one in Biddeford and one in Lewiston, despite local backing for the facilities. Four other proposals had been defeated earlier, while two have been approved.
Sponsors hope the new procedure would take the randomness out of the process and create an objective standard for review, with the state as the principal beneficiary of competing bidders.
But another bill is nearing legislative passage that could expand gambling far more widely than any single casino. Legislators have given all but final approval to a new law that would let social clubs and veterans’ groups install up to five slot machines per club for fundraising purposes.
While the bill has limits — each machine would require thousands of dollars in fees and reserve funds, and there would be a statewide ceiling of 250 machines (for now, it must be added) — it would still spread gambling to towns and cities all over Maine, greatly increasing exposure to the addictions and personal losses such machines inevitably produce.
Unless something changes soon, it seems likely that slots will eventually come to every corner of the state. Are Mainers ready for that?
They’d better be.
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