We all do better when we have the freedom and resources to choose the best path for our families and communities. Across the United States, many indigenous peoples have been able to achieve self-determination through tribal games. But over the past four decades, the Maine Legislature, Maine courts and even Maine voters have blocked the Wabanaki Nation from using the same tools while allowing large out-of-state corporations to operate slot machines and casinos. This year, we have an opportunity to upend that dynamic and empower the Wabanaki State by empowering internet gaming in Maine.
Internet gaming includes online gambling activities in which individuals place bets for a chance of winning money in return. Its popularity has surged in recent years due to technological advances and changing cultural attitudes. This month, Rhode Island became the seventh state to legalize online gaming after decriminalizing it earlier this year.
We now have the opportunity to embrace this new industry and bring tremendous opportunities to tribes and Maine residents. However, historically we have opposed Wabanaki self-determination at every turn, especially when it comes to supporting economic development.
In 2003, after several attempts by the Legislature to authorize tribal gaming, Maine voters chose to allow slot machine facilities to support rodeo operations rather than provide gaming opportunities to the Wabanaki Tribe. Over the next few years, tribal leaders warned that slot machines and casinos were driving away the high-stakes bingo games they were allowed to operate.
In 2007, then-tribal Rep. Donna Loring made this argument on behalf of the tribe: “We are simply asking for the same economic opportunities as Hollywood slot machines. Our communities desperately need it. If we are not allowed to operate slot machines , then we cannot compete. We cannot afford to lose the economic resources we have relied on for years to survive. I am asking you to help us sustain our community.”
They were right, and within a few years the Wabanaki lost a steady source of non-government revenue.
But it’s not just tribes that can benefit from online gaming; tribes can benefit from online gaming, too. All of Maine will benefit. Penn National Gaming, one of the region’s largest publicly traded gaming operators, found that Pennsylvania’s proposed internet gaming mandate could generate up to $60 million in upfront fees and approximately $49 million in its third full year of operations. annual tax revenue. The infusion of capital this industry could generate in Maine would enhance the services we all rely on.
Opponents of online gaming claim that gambling erodes our moral integrity and harms public health. Yet for decades, large corporations were allowed to run major gambling operations here, lining their own pockets with little incentive to reinvest in local communities.
A bill I introduced this session to authorize the federally recognized Wabanaki Nation to operate Internet gaming includes provisions to return a portion of the revenue to tribal communities and invest in services that benefit us all. Some services include emergency 911 response, opioid addiction treatment, emergency shelter, Maine Veterans Family Stabilization Fund and gambling addiction support services. In the past, revenue from gambling activities has not been used to support public health measures but has been used to subsidize other gambling industries. My recommendation is to channel revenue back into our communities, prioritizing public health and economic development.
Internet gaming is the future of gambling. This year, Maine has an opportunity to right historical injustices and realize its economic potential. We can’t bury our heads in the sand and pretend we can prevent online gaming from taking hold in Maine, nor can we honestly claim that our dissatisfaction with online gaming is about public health, an argument that historically has been less effective online at scale. The game disappears the moment it appears. -State-owned enterprises will benefit from this.
By allowing the federally recognized Wabanaki Tribal Nation to operate an internet gaming platform, Maine can seize this new economic opportunity and work towards a future where Wabanaki people and their neighbors across the state can truly thrive.
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