Managing Editor
Maine’s online casino bill has finally passed in the legislature, although it took a convoluted path to reach this point. The only question remaining is whether it will avoid a veto from Gov. Janet Mills.
If the Governor allows the bill to become law, it will permit online casino gaming under terms similar to the state’s existing online sports betting framework. That would grant commercial iGaming operators access to the market, but only through partnerships with the Wabanaki Nations.
The administration has only said it is “monitoring” the bill. However, Wabanaki leaders have expressed pessimism about Gov. Mills’ appetite for online casinos in Maine, so the prospect of a veto is very real.
Those four tribes have partnered with Caesars and DraftKings for sports betting. They would also likely be the first online casinos in the state. However, iGaming is the more lucrative of the two verticals, so the possibility of online casino games and poker might attract additional operators to the state.
DraftKings’ Electric Poker—a three-handed, ultra-fast format—would likely be the only poker product available to the market initially. Even if a brand like BetMGM or BetRivers were to come to Maine, the state would need to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) to create a viable market. Its population could not sustain a poker room without networking with other states. The process of joining MSIGA can take years.
Buzzer-Beater Finish for the Maine iGaming Bill
At this point, readers would be justified in skepticism about whether the bill has truly passed. The legislative complexities surrounding recent actions in the Senate have led to it being reported as passed (or, conversely, as having stalled out) at various times.
However, both chambers have now enacted it, so it is now officially on the Governor’s desk. Just don’t call it law yet, because there is still that veto pen hovering over it.
Maine iGaming Bill Timeline
To recap the bill’s journey:
- In March, it was introduced in the House and promptly forwarded to the Senate to get the process started there.
- After a three-month delay, the House passed the bill with an amendment upping the tax rate from 16% to 18%.
- On June 13 and June 16, the Senate seemed deadlocked on the bill. It could not muster the votes to pass, but motions to suspend the bill also failed.
- Eventually, the bill was passed to be engrossed under “suspension of the rules,” meaning it would get final editing and printing without a vote. However, an engrossed bill still needs enactment before going to the Governor.
- On June 17, the House enacted the bill. However, the Senate sent it to the Special Appropriations Table, where the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs would decide its fate.
- The following day, the state passed its supplemental budget with no mention of iGaming. PokerScout assumed that would be the end of the road.
- On June 25, however, the Committee’s chair, Sen. Peggy Rotundo, took the bill from the table, at which point it was enacted—again, without a roll call.
The bill has been hanging by a thread. Last year, only 10% of bills that went to the Special Appropriations table survived that step, according to the Maine Morning Star. Online casino bills have also had a notoriously hard time passing in recent years. Since 2021, Rhode Island has been the only success story.
And yet, here we are. There may yet be some twists to come in this story, but as it stands, Gov. Mills has the ability to make Maine the unexpected highlight of a year that by all accounts appeared to be a dud for online casino expansion in the US.
