Maryland

New Developments (updated 4/8/03)

Slots bill defeated in committee: On April 2, by a 16-5 vote, the House Ways and Means Committee rejected Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s bill to legalize slot-machine gambling, preventing a vote on the measure by the full chamber.

The governor’s legislation would have allowed 3,500 slots at each of three Central Maryland racetracks – Pimlico, Laurel Park and Rosecroft. Another 1,000 machines would have been permitted at a new track to be built in Allegeny County.

Erhlich had been counting heavily on revenue from slot machines to help reduce the state’s mounting budget deficits.

Paul E. Schurick, the governor’s communications director, said after the vote that the Erhlich administration would begin planning a budget for 2004-2005 with no tax increases and severe spending cuts. He went on to say that after this year’s legislative session the governor would not actively work for slots for the remainder of his term.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch, a Democrat from Anne Arundel County and a strong opponent of the Erhlich bill, exerted his influence to kill it in committee. Other Democrats as well as Republicans expressed criticism of Busch, saying the bill probably would have been approved by the committee and by the House if the speaker had not worked to defeat it.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a Democrat from Prince George’s County and the governor’s most powerful ally on slots, said he thought the bill could have made it out of committee if Busch had not opposed it.

Delegate Sheila E. Hixson, a Democrat from Montgomery County and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said they would study the slots issue over the summer and offer a different bill next year.

Miller, however, refused to agree to a study, calling the idea ridiculous.

He said it would be up to the House, rather than the Senate, to initiate any slots bill next year.