Will Governor Gamble on Slot Referendum? 

By Dr. Terry McGuire

Governor Ehrlich says he is for Slots.  He also has said that the 2002 election was a referendum on the issue.  His reasoning is that since he was for Slots, and he won the election, then the public already voted on the issue.  I don’t think so!  The fact is that there were many issues in the Governor’s race of 2002, and people made up their minds for a number of reasons.  It clearly was not an election outcome that was determined by his stand on the Slots issue.

For the past two years, the Governor, Senate President Mike Miller and Speaker of the House Mike Busch have held meeting after meeting to try to work out a deal.  So far, no deal!  The Governor’s Slot Bill has twice gone down the tubes in the House in its waning hours.  The Speaker wanted to tie it to a tax increase, upping the sales tax from five to six percent.  The Governor said no to this proposal.  In the background was a budget deficit estimated to approach $1 billion.  Isn’t it interesting that the present Governor’s budget has increased each year over the former Governor’s last one?  Hasn’t anyone in Annapolis ever heard of fiscal restraint and cuts in the budget?

Behind all of this is another spending whopper-the so-called Thornton Bill on Education.  It was passed in the wee hours of Governor Glendening’s last legislative session.  It mandated a whole bunch of State funding for years to come.  What is troubling to me is that I have not seen any newspaper print a detailed analysis of just what the public is paying for in this law.  I will note that Senator Roy Dyson voted against it, and I intend to seek him out and try to understand what it is that was unacceptable to him.  My gut feeling is that he was correct, but I will explore that issue in another column.

Now, however, the playing field has changed.  According to an Associated Press article, Wayne G. Deschenaux, director of the nonpartisan Office of Policy Analysis, says that the State has already collected an additional $150 million above expectations.  The prediction is that the projected budget deficit may fall to about $252 million if collections continue to flow at the same rate.  Quo Vadis the Slots issue?

Well, it seems that the Governor, the Speaker and the Senate President are still talking.  From what I can gather, any deal that the Speaker would sign on to must include a referendum.  The Governor apparently is still balking at that one.  It makes sense to me that it is very important for the people of Maryland to have the opportunity to vote on all hot button issues.  Issues that have many overtones, like Sots, should be placed on the ballot.  Let the public decide!  But that brings another dilemma.  The ballot question needs to be carefully defined so that the voters are fully informed as to just what they are voting on. 

There is a formula that possibly would be acceptable.  First of all, the State should build and operate any facilities.  I know the racing industry will not like that idea.  Their argument is that slots are needed for its very viability.  It is a good and true argument, and there is a way to address it.  Why not allocate a percentage of the take to racing purses to make them competitive with Delaware?   Another problem is that residents of certain counties oppose Slots for various reasons.  This could be handled so that any county which votes against the ballot issue would not have Slots.

This brings us to where any other profits would be directed.  The Governor says it would go to fund Thornton.  I’ll let them work that one out for themselves, but has anyone up there in the hallowed halls of Annapolis ever considered lowering taxes, like in real estate?      

(Terry McGuire is a physician and was a candidate for the Democratic Nomination for Governor in 1998, coming in second to Parris Glendening)