 
Slots Sail Through Senate Committee, Head for
Floor
By BERNIE BECKER
Capital News Service
ANNAPOLIS - A Senate committee Tuesday
overwhelmingly approved a plan to legalize slot
machines in Maryland, paving the way for the
full Senate to take up the issue as early as
Wednesday.
The package of bills, originally offered
by Gov. Martin O'Malley, would allow voters to
decide in a referendum next November whether to
allow up to 15,000 slot machines in Baltimore
City and Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and
Worcester counties.
The committee approved several changes
to the original proposal, such as increasing the
amount licensed slots operators make from 30
percent to 33 percent. But the bill would still
dedicate half of the slots revenue to education,
with the horse racing industry also receiving
contributions.
The bill also mandated that licensees
invest $15 million for every 500 slot machines
and contained language designed to keep the
Preakness Stakes, run at Baltimore's Pimlico
Race Course, in the state. Joseph Bryce, the
governor's chief legislative aide, said the
investment mandate will ensure the quality of
the slot machine parlors in the state.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller,
D-Calvert, said full Senate debate on the
referendum, which as a constitutional amendment
requires approval by a three-fifths majority of
the legislature, could begin Wednesday.
Senate Republicans had pledged to vote
against all slots initiatives before the special
legislative session, but only one of the four
Republicans on the Budget and Taxation
Committee, Sen. Lowell Stoltzfus, R-Somerset,
voted against both O'Malley proposals.
Those defections did not surprise
Miller.
"When you've been doing this long
enough, you kind of figure out what happens"
before it actually does, said Miller, who has
headed the Senate since 1987.
Sens. Richard Madaleno, D-Montgomery,
and Bobby Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, thought
too much protection was being given to the horse
racing industry, which could bring in up to $140
million per year for richer purses and racetrack
upkeep.
Zirkin called that an "extraordinary
amount" to hand out during a budget crisis, and
Madaleno said it was "an unparalleled
investment" for an industry whose viability is
being questioned. But Madaleno's motion to steer
those revenues elsewhere failed.
Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley,
R-Frederick, proposed adding Prince George's
County's Rosecroft Raceway to the slot machines
locations, calling it "potentially the most
profitable" possible venue and noting that only
two of the five current proposed locations could
be racetracks.
The motion failed, and Brinkley did not
vote on the proposal that spelled out how
revenues would be divided and slot machine
parlors supervised.
Brinkley, who voted against the
referendum, said he did not want to vote against
slots but had major issues with this proposal.
The committee just wanted "to throw something
back at the House," Brinkley said, adding this
was "an imperfect bill at best."
Sens. Donald Munson, R-Washington, and
George Edwards, R-Garrett, voted for both
proposals.
Munson, a longtime slots supporter,
noted he had agreed to oppose slots in the
special session to try to keep the session from
being called.
"But once that didn't work, I had to
represent my constituents," Munson said.
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