HP0755, LD 1077, item 1, An Act To Reduce the Annual License Fee for High-stakes Beano and To Allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe To Operate 50 Slot Machines in the Tribe's High-stakes Beano Facility

An Act To Reduce the Annual License Fee for High-stakes Beano and To Allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe To Operate 50 Slot Machines in the Tribe's High-stakes Beano Facility

Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and

Whereas, passage of this legislation is necessary to ensure the continued operation of high-stakes beano gaming by the Passamaquoddy Tribe; and

Whereas, many jobs and the operation of an elderly assisted living center depend upon high-stakes beano gaming; and

Whereas, this legislation needs to take effect before next year's license fee to operate high-stakes beano games becomes due; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 8 MRSA §1011, sub-§2-C is enacted to read:

2-C. Passamaquoddy Tribe eligible for license to operate slot machines. The board may accept an application from the Passamaquoddy Tribe for a license to operate 50 slot machines at a gaming facility in Washington County at which high-stakes beano is conducted by the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

Sec. 2. 8 MRSA §1019, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2011, c. 417, §6, is further amended to read:

7. Statewide and county referendum; municipal vote. After January 1, 2011, any proposed casino or slot machine facility may not be issued a license unless it has been approved by a statewide referendum vote and a vote of the municipal officers or municipality in which the casino or slot machine facility is to be located, except that a commercial track licensed to operate slot machines on January 1, 2011 is only required, as a condition to obtain a casino license, to receive approval to operate a casino by means of a referendum of the voters of the county in which the commercial track is located. Notwithstanding this subsection, the Passamaquoddy Tribe may obtain a license to operate slot machines at a gaming facility in Washington County at which high-stakes beano is conducted.

Sec. 3. 8 MRSA §1020, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 585, §8, is further amended to read:

A. Except for slot machines used for training and educational purposes at postsecondary institutions as provided by section 1011, subsection 1-B, the total number of slot machines registered in the State may not exceed 3,000 3,050; and

Sec. 4. 8 MRSA §1035, as amended by PL 2011, c. 585, §10, is further amended to read:

§ 1035. Location of slot machines

Slot machines may be located only on the premises of a commercial track, the premises of a casino , the premises of a gaming facility in Washington County at which high-stakes beano is conducted by the Passamaquoddy Tribe or the premises of an accredited postsecondary institution for the purposes of training and education under section 1011, subsection 1-B. For the purposes of this section, "premises of a commercial track" means property owned by the person who owns the property on which a commercial track is located and that is either within 200 feet of the outside edge of the racing oval or, if the commercial track was owned by a municipality when a license to operate slot machines in association with that commercial track was issued, within 2,000 feet of the center of the racing oval.

Sec. 5. 8 MRSA §1036, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 417, §7, is further amended to read:

1. Distribution for administrative expenses of board. A slot machine operator licensed under section 1011, subsection 2 or 2-C or a casino operator that is a commercial track that was licensed to operate slot machines under section 1011, subsection 2 on January 1, 2011 shall collect and distribute 1% of gross slot machine income to the Treasurer of State for deposit in the General Fund for the administrative expenses of the board.

Sec. 6. 8 MRSA §1036, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2015, c. 493, §4, is further amended to read:

2. Distribution of net slot machine income from casino with commercial track and from slot machines operated in conjunction with beano. A slot machine operator licensed under section 1011, subsection 2 or 2-C or a casino operator that is a commercial track that was licensed to operate slot machines under section 1011, subsection 2 on January 1, 2011 shall collect and distribute 39% of the net slot machine income from slot machines operated by the slot machine operator to the board for distribution by the board as follows:

A. Three percent of the net slot machine income must be deposited to the General Fund for administrative expenses of the board in accordance with rules adopted by the board, except that of the amount calculated pursuant to this paragraph, the following amounts must be transferred annually to the Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Fund established by Title 5, section 20006-B:

(1) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011, $50,000;

(2) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012, $50,000; and

(3) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013 and for each fiscal year thereafter, $100,000;

B. Ten percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the fund established in section 298 to supplement harness racing purses;

C. Three percent of the net slot machine income must be credited by the board to the Sire Stakes Fund created in section 281;

D. Three percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the Agricultural Fair Support Fund established in Title 7, section 91;

E. Ten percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the State Controller and except as otherwise provided in this paragraph credited to the Fund for a Healthy Maine established by Title 22, section 1511 and segregated into a separate account under Title 22, section 1511, subsection 11, with the use of funds in the account restricted to the purposes described in Title 22, section 1511, subsection 6, paragraph E. For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2010, June 30, 2011 and June 30, 2012, the amount credited annually by the State Controller to the Fund for a Healthy Maine under this paragraph may not exceed $4,500,000 annually and any funds in excess of $4,500,000 annually during these fiscal years must be credited as General Fund undedicated revenue, and, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, the amount credited by the State Controller to the Fund for a Healthy Maine under this paragraph is $0;

F. Two percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the University of Maine System Scholarship Fund created in Title 20-A, section 10909 and to the Board of Trustees of the Maine Maritime Academy to be applied by the board of trustees to fund its scholarship program. The slot machine income under this paragraph must be distributed as follows:

(1) The University of Maine System share is the total amount of the distribution multiplied by the ratio of enrolled students in the system to the total number of enrolled students both in the system and at the Maine Maritime Academy; and

(2) The Maine Maritime Academy share is the total amount of the distribution multiplied by the ratio of enrolled students at the academy to the total number of enrolled students both in the system and at the academy;

G. One percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the board of trustees of the Maine Community College System to be applied by the board of trustees to fund its scholarships program under Title 20-A, section 12716, subsection 1;

H. Four percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the Fund to Encourage Racing at Maine's Commercial Tracks, established in section 299;

I. Two percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the Fund to Stabilize Off-track Betting Facilities established by section 300, as long as a facility has conducted off-track wagering operations for a minimum of 250 days during the preceding 12-month period in which the first payment to the fund is required. After 48 months of receiving an allocation of the net slot machine income from a licensed operator, the percent of net slot machine income forwarded to the Fund to Stabilize Off-track Betting Facilities is reduced to 1% with the remaining 1% to be forwarded to the State in accordance with subsection 1; and

J. One percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded directly to the municipality in which the slot machines are located.

Sec. 7. 8 MRSA §1036, sub-§2-A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 118, §2, is further amended to read:

2-A. Distribution from casino of slot machine income. A casino operator shall collect and distribute 46% of the net slot machine income from slot machines operated by the casino operator to the board for distribution by the board as follows:

A. Twenty-five percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded directly by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the Department of Education, to be used to supplement and not to supplant funding for essential programs and services for kindergarten to grade 12 under Title 20-A, chapter 606-B;

B. Four percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the University of Maine System Scholarship Fund created in Title 20-A, section 10909 and to the Board of Trustees of the Maine Maritime Academy to be applied by the board of trustees to fund its scholarship program. The slot machine income under this paragraph must be distributed as follows:

C. Three percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Board of Trustees of the Maine Community College System to be applied by the board of trustees to fund its scholarships program under Title 20-A, section 12716, subsection 1;

D. Four percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall distribute the funds to the tribal governments of the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe;

E. Three percent of the net slot machine income must be deposited to the General Fund for administrative expenses of the board, including gambling addiction counseling services, in accordance with rules adopted by the board;

F. Two percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded directly to the municipality in which the casino is located;

G. One percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the Agricultural Fair Support Fund established in Title 7, section 91;

H. One percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the fund established in section 298 to supplement harness racing purses;

I. One percent of the net slot machine income must be credited by the board to the Sire Stakes Fund created in section 281;

J. One percent of the net slot machine income must be forwarded directly to the county in which the casino is located to pay for mitigation of costs resulting from gaming operations;

L. Beginning July 1, 2013, 1/2 of 1% of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the Maine Milk Pool, Other Special Revenue Funds account within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to help fund dairy farm stabilization pursuant to Title 7, sections 3153-B and 3153-D; and

M. Beginning July 1, 2013, 1/2 of 1% of the net slot machine income must be forwarded by the board to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit the money to the Dairy Improvement Fund established under Title 10, section 1023-P.

If a recipient of net slot machine income in paragraph D, H or I owns or receives funds from a slot machine facility or casino, other than the casino in Oxford County , a slot machine facility operated by the Passamaquoddy Tribe or the slot machine facility in Bangor, then the recipient may not receive funds under this subsection, and those funds must be retained by the Oxford County casino operator.

Sec. 8. 17 MRSA §314-A, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2015, c. 24, §1 and affected by §2, is further amended to read:

4. Term of license; fees. A license issued under this section is valid for a period of one year. The annual license fee for a high-stakes beano license is $50,000, except that the annual license fee due in 2008 to 2016 is $25,000. License fees may be paid in advance in quarterly installments. All license fees must be paid to the Treasurer of State to be credited to the General Fund.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill authorizes the Department of Public Safety, Gambling Control Board to accept an application from the Passamaquoddy Tribe to operate 50 slot machines at a gaming facility in Washington County at which high-stakes beano is conducted by the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The bill raises the limit on the number of slot machines allowed in the State by 50 to accommodate the slot machines that may be operated by the Passamaquoddy Tribe. Slot machines operated by the Passamaquoddy Tribe would be subject to the oversight of the Gambling Control Board and subject to the same laws and rules as other slot machines operated in this State.

It also reduces the annual license fee for high-stakes beano from $50,000 to $25,000 and allows the Passamaquoddy Tribe to operate 50 slot machines in the tribe's high-stakes beano facility.

HP0755 LD 1077	Session - 128th Maine Legislature		LR 2071 Item 1
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