Maine's Appropriations Committee unanimously voted on March 14th, 2010 to place the implementation of the Mega Millions lottery game into the state budget, but dismissed a proposal to offer keno in the state.
Committee members said that the decision indicated a partiality for a game similar to others that are already being offered in Maine, compared to a new game like keno that would need new online framework.
Sen. Bill Diamond (D-Windham), the co-chair of the committee, said that they had tried to make an informed decision based on the bottom line of the governor. Sen. Diamond said that Gov. John Baldacci is adamant that the state should not start to offer new games and the Mega Millions is not a new game, it is a game like Megabucks and Powerball.
Rep. Sawin Millett (R-Waterford), the GOP lead on the committee, agreed that there is a difference between offering another online game and creating a new online game that needs a brand new infrastructure like the game of keno. He said that while there is little support for gambling among GOP legislators, they would support a compromise.
Rep. Millett said that they will prefer Mega Million to some new game like keno. He added that having dismissed keno and approved Mega Millions; he thinks that the compromise will be acceptable to his caucus. The Mega Millions game is now available in thirty-three states and has the same big jackpots as Powerball.
All of the states in New England, except for the state of Maine, have decided to add Mega Millions to their Powerball and other online gaming that they offer to their customers. Maine lottery director Dan Gwadosky said that they will lose some sales when there is a huge Mega Millions jackpot and New Hampshire offers the game while they don't.
The argument of lost gaming revenue to the state of New Hampshire was cited by Gov. Baldacci in his support for adding Powerball to the Maine lottery in 2004. Diamond said that the goal is to begin the Mega Millions game in May 2010 so some revenue is earned in the present budget year.
He said that while the decision does not produce a lot of revenue-about $1.5 million in its first full year of operation-it will help as the committee tries to finalize the budget this month.
Finance Commissioner Ryan Low said that the decision by the committee is not unexpected as legislators deal with changing the budget to show less revenue in this economic recession. The budget deficit is $310 million, even after changes in the state revenue and additional one-time federal support.
Low said that the Megabucks was changed just a few months ago to a $2 ticket from $1 dollar with a minimum top prize of $1 million prize, up from $500,000. He said that there are some indications that it is working, with overall lottery profits up in the last few months.
But committee members supported the Mega Millions because it will permit them to restore funding to a lot of programs that were cut in Gov. Baldacci's proposal. The decision of the committee could be changed but even Low thinks that it is highly unlikely as the committee seeks to mitigate the effect of the budget cuts on state programs.
Aside from that, the keno issue may be far from over either, with some lawmakers on the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee looking at the game as a way of helping non-profit groups raise money for their causes. Keno bears a lot of similarities with Megabucks and Powerball but the drawing of winning digits happens every ten minutes or so instead of a few times in a week.
[19-04]
Louis Blechdom
