Gov. Mills signs law legalizing sports betting; tribes get exclusive rights to online wagering - Press Herald

Gov. Janet Mills has signed a law legalizing sports betting in Maine and giving the state’s tribes exclusive rights to conduct online wagering.

The law was the result of negotiations between the Mills administration and the leaders of Maine’s tribes, which comprise the Wabanaki Confederacy.

It allows Maine’s existing casinos to conduct in-person sports betting, while the tribes have sole access to the more lucrative online betting market as a way to inject resources into tribal governments to help improve education, health care and infrastructure. In addition, the law, L.D. 585, eases the tax burden on Maine’s indigenous people and creates a new process for state and tribal collaboration on policy.

The law will take effect in late July.

The Legislature also passed a broader bill that would lift 42-year-old restrictions limiting the rights of Maine tribes to govern themselves and oversee tribal resources. That bill, L.D. 1626, would put Maine tribes on par with federally recognized tribes in all other states.

However, the Legislature has not sent that bill to the governor for a signature because Mills indicated she would veto it and there is not enough support to override a veto.

This story will be updated.

source: https://www.pressherald.com/2022/05/02/mills-signs-law-legalizing-sports-betting-tribes-get-exclusive-rights-to-online-wagering/

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