Sen. Baldacci introduces bill to legalize sports betting in Maine

AUGUSTA — On Friday, Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, introduced a bill to legalize sports betting in Maine and use some of the revenue generated to help fund Maine schools. LD 1404, “An Act To Legalize Sports Betting and Strengthen Public Education,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.

“There’s a clear appetite for sports betting in Maine. We have a great opportunity to both bring in extra revenue for the state and to responsibly allow the expansion of popular local businesses,” said Sen. Baldacci. “It only makes sense to me that we funnel some of the revenue generated by sports betting to our underfunded school systems, which is ultimately a real investment in our state’s future.”

LD 1404 would  authorize the Department of Public Safety, Gambling Control Unit to regulate sports wagering in Maine. A certain percentage of a licensed operation’s adjusted gross sports wagering receipts from sports betting businesses would go to the state, with that money going toward the Gambling Control Unit within the Department of Public Safety, the Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Fund, and the Department of Education to be used for essential programs and services for kindergarten to grade 12.

“Based on the overwhelming voter support in the past to operate casinos in both Bangor and Oxford, it is clear that the Maine people support gaming opportunities,” officials from the City of Bangor wrote in testimony supporting the bill. “While gaming began with slot machines, the voters again expressed their support to expand opportunities by approving the introduction of table games. The legalization of sports betting is merely the natural evolution of gaming opportunities.”

The bill faces further action in committee.