We are all better off when we have the freedom and resources to choose the path that is best for our families and communities. Across the United States, many Native American tribes have been able to make progress toward this self-determination through tribal games. But over the past 40 years, the Maine Legislature, Maine courts, and even Maine voters have blocked Wabanaki nations from accessing the same tools, while allowing large out-of-state companies to operate slots and casinos. has been allowed to operate. This year, we have an opportunity to upend this dynamic and empower Wabanaki nations by allowing internet gaming in Maine.
Internet gaming involves online gambling activities in which individuals gamble money for the opportunity to win money in return. Its popularity has skyrocketed in recent years due to advances in technology and changing cultural attitudes. This month, Rhode Island became the seventh state to start Internet gaming, legalizing it earlier this year.
We now have the opportunity to embrace this new industry, creating tremendous opportunities for our tribes and Maine residents. But historically, we have opposed Wabanaki self-determination at every turn, especially when it comes to supporting economic development.
In 2003, after several attempts in the state Legislature to authorize tribal gaming, voters in Maine voted to allow slot facilities to support harness racing operations in exchange for giving gambling opportunities to the Wabanaki Nation. Selected. Over the next few years, tribal leaders warned that slots and then casinos were crowding out the high-stakes bingo businesses that were allowed to operate.
In 2007, then-Tribal Councilwoman Donna Loring argued on behalf of the tribe: Our community is in dire need. If you are not allowed to operate a slot machine, you cannot compete. We cannot afford to lose the economic resources we have relied on for so long. Please help us maintain our community. ”
They were right, and within a few years the Wabanaki lost access to a stable source of non-government income.
But tribes aren’t the only ones who can benefit from Internet gaming. All of Maine will benefit. Penn National Gambling, one of the region’s largest publicly traded gaming operations, will receive up to $60 million in upfront licensing fees by its third full year of operation under Pennsylvania’s proposed Internet gaming license. They found it could generate about $49 million in tax revenue annually. The infusion of capital this industry can generate in Maine will strengthen the services we all depend on.
Opponents of Internet gaming argue that gambling erodes our morality and endangers public health. But for decades, large corporations have been allowed to operate large-scale gambling operations here, lining their own pockets with little incentive to reinvest in the local community.
The bill I introduced this session to authorize the federally recognized Wabanaki Nation to operate internet gaming includes returning a portion of the proceeds to tribal communities and investing in services that benefit us all. It contains a clause directing you to do so. Services include emergency 911 response, opioid addiction treatment, emergency shelter, Maine Veterans Family Stabilization Fund, and gambling addiction support services. Until now, revenue from gaming activities has not been used to support public health measures, but rather to subsidize other gambling industries. My proposal is to prioritize public health and economic development, and return revenue to the community.
Internet gaming is the future of the gambling industry. This year, Maine has an opportunity to right historic injustices and embrace its economic potential. We cannot sit back and act as if we can prevent Internet gaming from taking root in Maine. Nor can you honestly claim that your discomfort with Internet gaming is about public health. Historically, that argument evaporates the moment a major out occurs. -State-owned enterprises stand to benefit.
By allowing the federally recognized Wabanaki Nation to operate an internet gaming platform, Maine is poised to seize this new economic opportunity and move towards a future where the Wabanaki Nation and their neighbors in the state can truly thrive. You can work on it.
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