Slots Referendum

Pro-slots organization For Maryland For Our Future substantially outraised its rival anti-slots group during the last financial period, according to reports filed last week with the State Board of Elections.

For Maryland For Our Future ended the last financial quarter with $558,848.04 cash-on-hand and $3,781,500 in total receipts.

Anti-slots ballot issue committee Marylanders United to Stop Slots ended with $142,896.34 cash-on-hand and $411,053 in total receipts.

For Maryland For Our Future spent hundreds of thousands on television and radio advertising in addition to thousands more on consulting and research services. The vast amount of the committee's cash came from the horse racing industry.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) threw her support behind November's slots referendum last week, according to The Baltimore Sun.

"I made it very clear, so I hope you report it very clear: I'm supporting Question 2 to reduce the property tax," Dixon said on Friday, according to the Sun.

City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) joined Dixon in her support of the controversial ballot measure as well.

Facing a looming budget shortfall, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Baltimore) announced he would be considering steeper cuts to funding for health care and education and is considering a furlough program, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Last month, the Board of Revenue Estimates reported the state's general fund revenues were at roughly $14 billion - $432 million less than original estimates.

To combat the deficit, O'Malley announced he would be asking state agencies to identify cuts of up to five percent in the current year's budget. The governor plans to present these cuts to the Board of Public Works on October 15. 

O'Malley said the nation's economic outlook and the result of November's slots referendum would influence the decision to make more cuts.

Comptroller Peter Franchot is refuting attacks from pro-slots organization For Maryland For Our Future, claiming the charges against him are "outright lies."

Franchot was referencing two new television ads launched last week by For Maryland For Our Future. The organization said the ads were intended to correct Comptroller Peter Franchot's "misleading" and "false public statements" about November's slots referendum.

The Maryland Republican party says the state government doesn't have revenue problem, rather, it has a spending problem.

"The advertising from advocates of the slots constitutional amendment claims that the only solution to the projected deficit is to raise taxes or pass the referendum, I want to make it perfectly clear that the MDGOP is firmly opposed to raising taxes," said MDGOP chair Jim Pelura in a statement.

Pelura suggested that with a careful evaluation, spending could be brought under control.

Anti-slots group Marylanders United to Stop Slots wants WBAL-AM to pull two ads being aired by its pro-slots rival organization.

"These advertisements are false and misleading, and knowingly misstate facts and positions on the issue of Question 2, the slots constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall," wrote the group's senior advisor, Scott Arceneaux, in a letter to WBAL-FM. The letter was in reference to two ads being run by the pro-slots group For Maryland For Our Future.

According to Arceneaux, one ad says slots will guarantee $650 million in new education funding each year. "Simply put, this is a lie," he said.

To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here.

Former Gov. Bob EhrlichFormer Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-Baltimore) says he is against November's slots referendum.

Ehrlich voiced his opposition to Question 2 during his weekly WBAL-AM radio show, which he hosts along with his wife Kendel Ehrlich. If passed, the referendum would allow up to 15,000 slot machine installations at five different locations across the state.

The Baltimore County Executive's Regional Advisory Board for Business and Education voted to support November's slots referendum on Friday. The EAB -- a forum to the regional economy -- is made up of representatives from business, government and education.

"I have been working hard to ensure the passage of the slots referendum this November," said county executive Jim Smith (D-Baltimore County) in a statement. "I am very pleased that this group-who represents a broad cross-section of employers, and the educators who work directly with students-are taking such a strong position on this issue. The $600 million that will be dedicated to the Education Trust Fund if slots pass, will be impossible to replace."