Maine casino industry could face rejection

The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices wants to end casino support.

Maine authorities are holding a meeting to debate a “potential action against backers of the York County casino referendum.” The debate was going to be postponed after the election next week, but The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices rejected the new date and decided to maintain the schedule.

Meanwhile, Paul LePage, governor of Maine, is against a proposal to bring a third casino in the state as he believes that it was presented in a sketchy way: the proponents said that it would bring better education and more jobs, but LePage claims that it should’ve been introduced as straight up gambling.

As the governor said, there is an unusual clause in the proposal that establishes that the only person who would be allowed to ask for a US$5 million state license is Shawn Scott, who has been under the spotlight as state officials are investigating him and his sisters to find out who funded a US$4.3 million initiative to include the proposal land in the ballot.

Supporters of the facility that would share revenue with the state claim that the governor needs to think “about Maine first and not his friends in Kentucky, because gaming is a competitive industry and Massachusetts is gearing up to capture as much revenue as possible from neighboring states.”