Ryan O'Donnell

Opponents of November's slots referendum are calling a possible $2 million donation to a pro-slots organization outrageous.  

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.

Magna Entertainment, which owns two race tracks in Maryland, is expected to send the contribution to an organization, For Maryland For Our Future, which is campaigning for the referendum's passage.

The advocacy group Common Cause Maryland is asking members of the General Assembly to refuse contributions from gambling interests through Election Day, when voters will decide if the state should legalize the release of up to 15,000 slot machines at racetracks and other locations throughout Maryland.

In a statement, the group's executive director, Ryan O'Donnell, said Common Cause would make the request because the slots referendum "must be a decision-making process untarnished by political contributions from interested parties."

The organization has not taken a stance for or against slots.

Annapolis- State Sen. George Edwards (R-Grantsville) told PolitickerMD.com today that he is not influenced by campaign contributions that he has received from the utility industry.

Edwards, responding to a report by Progressive Maryland and Common Cause Maryland alleging that he has received the tenth highest total of campaign contributions from the utility industry among members of the current General Assembly since voting for a bill to deregulate the electricity industry in 1999, said he would not “do anything different” in terms of his duties as a lawmaker.

“I tell (contributors) upfront—I won’t treat you any different,” Edwards said.

ANNAPOLIS- The legislative office of House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Annapolis) issued a statement when asked to respond to a report by Progressive Maryland and Common Cause Maryland that said Busch has received the fourth highest amount in campaign contributions from the utility industry among members of the current General Assembly since voting for a bill to deregulate the electricity industry in 1999. The speaker’s office also referred to his record on campaign finance reform, as Progressive Maryland and Common Cause push for the passage of Senate Bill 593, a campaign finance law that would lead to publicly funded elections.

“The speaker's record is clear on both issues: campaign finance reform and issues impacting Maryland electricity ratepayers,” Alexandra Hughes, a spokesperson for the delegate, said. “In 2006, Speaker Busch shepherded the clean campaign bill through the House of Delegates. That same year, he pressed the state's largest electricity company to provide rate relief for millions of consumers. Utility companies represent less than 2% of contributions to the speaker's campaign committee.”

According to data provided by Ryan O’Donnell, the executive director of Common Cause Maryland, Busch has received $13,725 in campaign contributions from the utility industry since the passage of the deregulation bill.

ANNAPOLIS- On Friday, we reported the findings of a study conducted by the advocacy groups Progressive Maryland and Common Cause Maryland. In that report, the organizations reported that those members of the General Assembly who voted to deregulate the electricity industry nine years ago and who remain in office are still receiving much of their campaign contributions from the utility industry.

The report specifically named Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. (D-Clinton) as receiving at least $39,000 in contributions from the utility industry since 1998, the most of any legislator, while Sen. Thomas Middleton (D-Waldorf), the chair of the finance committee, has received at least $23,600, the second highest.

Since that time, Ryan O’Donnell, the executive director of Common Cause Maryland, has provided PolitickerMD.com with more detailed information that was not present in the study. The data below includes current legislators who voted in favor of the 1999 bill to deregulate the electricity industry, and the contribution amounts that they have received from the utility industry, according to O’Donnell, since that time.

PolitickerMD.com contacted the offices of the ten lawmakers who have received the highest contribution totals. To this point, Sen. George Edwards (R-Grantsville), listed as having received the tenth highest amount in contributions, and the office of House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Annapolis), listed as having received the fourth highest contributions, have responded to our questions. Those responses will be printed shortly.

Nine years after the General Assembly voted to deregulate the electricity industry those members who remain in office and who voted in favor of the measure are still receiving much of their campaign contributions from the utility industry, a new report from the advocacy groups Progressive Maryland and Common Cause, finds.

“There are presently 88 members of the General Assembly who were in office when the energy deregulation bill was passed in 1999—65 of whom voted in favor of the legislation,” the report said. “Those who voted on that bill have received at least $280,000 combined in campaign contributions from the electric utility industry since 1998. Those who voted yes received 93 percent of that total.”