Maine Governor Angus King recently vetoed a bill that would have legalized telephone account wagering on harness races in the state of Maine. Whether the bill would have cleared the way for Internet wagering as well is questionable, however, such a debate is moot in light of the fact that legislators have sustained the veto. Still, we know you love to read legislative documents, so we've corralled a few just for you.
Following are a letter drafted by Governor King and the text of the bill:
May 8, 2000
Dear Members of the 119th Legislature,
Enclosed please find H.P. 1214, L.D. 1743, "An Act to Preserve Live Harness Racing in the State," which I am returning without my signature or approval.
I can appreciate and support efforts to maintain and improve the Harness Racing tradition here in Maine. The harness race, Maine horsemen and women, and the Agricultural Fairs are part of our culture and our history. I realize L.D. 1743 is intended to help maintain this tradition and culture, but I believe this approach will lead to a compromise of the very tradition it seeks to preserve. I believe tele-betting may
will ultimately undermine the traditional harness racing experience many supporters cherish.
Convenience gambling only serves to increase the pool of gamblers, thereby increasing the level of the wagering right down to the individual bet. While there may be short-term benefit to the Maine harness racing community resulting from revenues realized from tele-betting, I am not convinced that in the long-run, the tradition and culture will be preserved by encouraging remote betting from our living rooms. I am
aware that access currently exists for wagering to occur over the telephone or the internet. Unfortunately, I'm also aware that we possess little authority to prohibit much of that activity as it almost always originates elsewhere.
The 1999 report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission concluded that "convenience gambling, such as electronic devices in neighborhood outlets," (or telephones in living rooms!) " provides fewer economic benefits and creates potentially greater social costs by making gambling more available and accessible. Therefore, the Commission recommends that states should not authorize any further
convenience gambling operations and should cease and roll back existing operations." I believe at the very least we ought to heed their advice not to further expand convenience gambling operations in Maine. I further believe that the Federal Government needs to develop national policies on the regulation and/or prohibition of this type of gambling activity. If the Federal Government is going to rely on states to control
gaming activity, they must ensure we have the ability to do so. In the meantime, expanding easy access to gambling certainly doesn't constitute the kind of "value added" economic development to which I know we are all committed.
For the reasons outlined above, I am in firm opposition to L.D. 1743 and respectfully urge you to sustain my veto.
Sincerely,
Angus S. King, Jr.
Governor
H.P. 1214.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 8 MRSA §271, sub-§§10 and 11 are enacted to read:
10. On-track telephone account wagering allowed. A commercial track may engage in telephone account wagering on races conducted at that track, if all money used to place telephone account wagers is on deposit with the commercial track in an amount sufficient to cover the wagers. Money is deemed to be on deposit at a commercial track only if that deposit has been effected by cash, check or a confirmed credit card transaction. All money wagered by telephone account wagering is subject to the same commissions and distributions as wagers placed directly at the track.
11. Improper telephone account wagering prohibited. A commercial track shall accept a telephone account wagers only from the holder of the telephone wagering account. A person may
not directly or indirectly act as an intermediary, transmitter or agent in the placing of wagers for a holder of a telephone wagering account. Only the holder of a telephone wagering account may place a telephone wager. A person violating this subsection is guilty of a Class E crime.
SUMMARY
This bill allows commercial tracks to accept over-the-telephone wagers on races conducted at that track, but only from individuals with prefunded accounts established at the track.