Maine Lawmakers, Looking To Please Governor With Sports Betting Bill

• Legislators in Maine are presenting a new sports betting bill to the state.
• The last bill passed the House and the Senate but was ultimately vetoed by Governor Janet Mills.
• The new bill aims to be pleasing to Gov. Mills.

AUGUSTA, Maine. – Sports betting in Maine is seeing new life as legislators aim to bring a new bill forth. Past efforts have failed to be successful, with the most recent bill making it all the way to the Governor’s desk before being vetoed.

At the time, Governor Janet Mills stated that she was unconvinced that the people of Maine wanted to expand gambling, ending the efforts of lawmakers in the Senate and House who were proponents of sports betting.

Now lawmakers are looking to make a bill that would be approved by the Governor and finally launch sports betting in Maine.

Maine Sports Betting

The last time a bill was presented was in 2020 when both the House and Senate approved the sports betting bill. Ultimately, Gov. Mills vetoed the bill bringing lawmakers to square one.

After over a year since that failed attempt, lawmakers have returned now with four new sports betting bills that could potentially kickstart the market.

The goal is to present a bill that Mills will approve of or a bill that is veto-proof. The bills are presented by Sen. Louis Luchini who was the main supporter of the 2020 bill that was vetoed, Senate President Troy Jackson, Sen. Joe Baldacci, and rep. Tim Roche.

Each bill has different focus points. Sen. Luchini is presenting a bill that focuses on mobile and online betting and would tax mobile sportsbooks 16%. Senate President Jackson’s bill is focused mainly on in-person wagering.

Sen. Baldacci’s bill wants revenue from sports betting to almost exclusively go to education. Rep. Roche’s bill is a bill that includes both mobile and retail sports betting and is backed by the NFL.

There are no guarantees that any of the bills will launch as Gov. Mills has given no indication that she has changed her stance on legal sports betting.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire has benefited greatly from Maine sports betting fans crossing over to bet on sports. This is a point that Sen. Luichini has been making since the initial attempt to launch regulated sports betting.

The potential launch of a Maine sports betting market is still up in the air, but the multiple bills presented in the legislator and the many surrounding markets seeing success may lead to a more successful attempt this go around.

News tags: Augusta | Janet Mills | LD 1404 | LD 1405 | LD 1527 | LD 15352 | Maine | sports betting | Steve Silver