Montgomery county Democrats decry slots referendum

By Danny Reiter, PolitickerMD.com Reporter

ROCKVILLE - Slot machines would be nothing but bad news for Maryland's economy and residents, according to some Montgomery County Democrats.

A group of elected officials gathered Monday afternoon to criticize the so-called benefits of approving gambling in Maryland to help cure a looming budget deficit.

"The idea of slots in Maryland is an invitation to a race at the bottom," said state Sen. Brian Frosh in front of the Red Brick Courthouse. "The message you get from the referendum is ‘let's dive in.'"

Voters will decide on November's ballot if the state constitution should be amended to allow no more than 15,000 slot machine installations at five different locations across the state. The slots referendum has become one of the most heated issues in the state.

While proponents argue the slots will provide necessary funding for the state's education infrastructure, opponents believe the revenue projections are overly optimistic, and the problems associated with gambling far outweigh the benefits.

At today's news conference, state Sen. Jamie Raskin said gambling would create a society and an economy of winners and losers and Del. Susan Lee agreed.

"What a devastating impact this will be in minority communities," Lee told the crowd. "This will just make the situation worse."

Del. Heather Mizeur denounced the idea that the scheme would produce free money. Instead, she highlighted Maryland's status as the "wealthiest state in the nation" and said slot machines would "take us down a road that's not Maryland."

Del. Karen Montgomery lambasted the bill for having millions of dollars built into it to help people with gambling addiction.

"It is a sick bill," she said. "It is a sick system."

Although the issue of slots has become divisive for both parties in Maryland, Frosh said County Executive Isaiah Leggett's recently announced pro-slots stance wouldn't affect their ability to work together.

"Every elected official here is elected independently of every other so we agree on some issues and we disagree on some issues," he said.

The others nodded in agreement.

DANNY REITER is a PolitickerMD.com Reporter and can be reached via email at Daniel.reiter@politicker.com.

Email this Article

Comments

Slots Pressure

posted by Get Real

First, let me say it encourages me to see Democrat legislators break from the royalty running the party. This seemingly courageous stand needs to be recognized as uncommon. Especially on such an issue. It has been heavily lobbied by special interests that stand to gain huge power and fortunes - both in and out of the public service sector. Montgomery County citizens are all too familiar with influence trumping the common good of the citizenry. I applaud your candor!

As to her vote on the referendum. Perhaps Ms. Lee had the ever-present Sword of Damocles held over her head and decided to punt to the voters (like the majority of the legislators did). This still gave her political (party) survival and the chance that the referendum would fail in Nov. Even so, the fixers in Annapolis have rigged this contest like a pro wrestling match. The Md. Sec. of State, a former gambling interest lobbyist(20+ years on their payroll!), authors the referendum question which will masterfully mislead the public into believing that the $$$$ will benefit education. And ONLY education. This is false on its face and deceptive in its ommissions. The dollars coming in will be completely offset by a dollar- for-dollar reduction from the education budget in the general fund. Zero sum game by shifting accounts and de facto beefing up of the general fund trough. Deceitful and planned way ahead of time by even splitting the bill in several parts. This helps give the veneer of legality when arguing that the whole picture isn't presented in the language. The legal argument says that the remaining parts are "other" bills with their own language, and have NOTHING to do w/ the referendum. Nothing, other than the complete, unvarnished and full-view picture of the extremely rare CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. An issue that our one party government should enable the citizenry of Md. to decide with "eyes wide open" and with full knowledge of its far reaching ramifications.

Owe-Malley needs this bail-out for his Tax, Tax, Tax and patronage, patronage, patronage policies. This is a man who has recently elevated a lap-dog judge to the Court of Appeals. This Baltimore City jurist delivered key favorable decisions/opinions for his "electability" issues (Failing school takeovers by the state, BGE rate increases, etc.). Yet he then got immediately overturned in those decisions by the very Appeals courts that he's supposedly qualified for. That makes any candidate for an Appeals Court appointment questionable, at best. Look for more fixes in the coming years. Pass the popcorn. I wonder who'll win the WWF edition of Md. slots.

09/10/08 4:32 pm