Maine Governor Janet Mills could set the tone for online casino legislation in 2026 this week.
The Maine Legislature begins its new session Wednesday, starting a timer on approximately 60 bills that have sat on Mills’ desk since last summer. One of those bills is LD 1164, which would permit the Wabanaki tribes in Maine to offer online casino products.
Once the session begins, Mills will have three days to either veto the bills, which the legislature could override, or allow the bills to become law without her signature. Mills’ office testified against the issue during legislative hearings last year. She also initially vetoed a sports betting bill in 2020, but eventually legalized the industry with her signature in 2022.
While the iGaming legislation has received some opposition, including from the state’s gaming regulator, Maine would become the eighth state with legal online casinos if Mills does not veto it.
Maine online casino push
LD 1164 passed last year during a special session after the Senate initially tabled it. It made it to the Special Appropriations Table, where lawmakers often end up killing legislation. However, legislators sent 117 of the 300 bills on the appropriations table to Mills, including LD1164.
LD1164 would grant the four Wabanaki tribes exclusive rights to offer online gambling, including blackjack, poker and slots. The state would collect an 18% tax on the revenue. The four tribes are partnered with DraftKings and Caesars for online sports betting, which launched in the state in 2023.
As Mills mulls the issue, the Maine Gambling Control Board has urged her to veto the bill by a unanimous vote last month. In a letter to Mills, MGCB Chairman Steven Silver said the board believes if online casino is legalized, the state’s two casinos should also be included as potential operators.
“Granting the tribes a monopoly and cutting out the casinos, when we’ve seen from other states that legalizing igaming cuts into casino revenue, that is going to have adverse tax consequences,” Silver said in the letter. “It could cause several hundred Mainers to lose their jobs.”
The board warns of potential loss of up to 200 jobs at the casinos. It also warns gambling addiction could significantly increase.
National organization runs poll
The National Association Against iGaming released a poll this week suggesting that 64% of Maine residents oppose legalizing online casinos. Several land-based casino companies, including Churchill Downs Inc and The Cordish Companies, launched NAAiG to counter the push to legalize online casinos across the country.
“If Maine allows iGaming to become law, the state will stand out as an outlier in New England and across the country at a time when other governors and legislatures are hearing from their constituents and choosing not to move forward with this highly addictive form of gambling,” Jason Gumer, NAAiG board member and executive vice president & general counsel at Monarch Casino & Resort, said in a release. “The results ring loud and clear: Maine voters reject iGaming when they understand it puts a 24/7 casino on the same smartphones their kids use.”
Lake Research Partners said that from 13-16 December, it surveyed 500 Maine residents likely to vote in the 2026 election. It reported that 51% of Maine voters are less likely to support a lawmaker who voted to legalize online casinos.
Pat Evans
Pat covers the legislation and regulation of online gambling in North and South America, having covered the US sports betting industry extensively since 2019.
Maine’s Legislature reconvenes Wednesday, putting Governor Janet Mills on the clock to decide whether the state will become the eighth in the US with legal online casinos.