Question 2

Marylanders Have Opportunity to Reject Out-of-State Special Interest Money

Marylanders Have Opportunity to Reject Out-of-State Special Interest Money

The Maryland State Fraternal Order of Police threw its support behind November's controversial slots referendum on Tuesday.

"We need to pass the slots referendum - to invest in Maryland's schools and prevent local cuts that would harm public safety," Rodney Bartlett, the organization's president, said in a statement. "If we don't, the social costs of cutting education and public safety would badly damage our state.  And in these tough times, like most Marylanders, our members can't afford tax increases - which some slots opponents have proposed."

Voters will decide in November if the state constitution should be amended to allow up to 15,000 slot machines at five different locations across the state. Bartlett said contrary to what some may suggest, slots do not cause increased crime.

Passing November's slots referendum would recapture millions of dollars Marylanders are sending out of state, according to a new ad from pro-slots group For Maryland For Our Future.

"Right now, we lose $400 million dollars a year from Marylanders who play slots out of state. Those are Maryland dollars paying to improve education in West Virginia and lower taxes in Pennsylvania," says a narrator in the ad. "But we can bring those dollars home by passing slots here in Maryland."

Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D-Baltimore) approval ratings during his first two years in office are slightly lower than former Gov. Bob Ehrlich's (R-Baltimore) approval ratings were during his last term in office, according to a new poll conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres plc for The Washington Post.

O'Malley currently has a net approval rating of 53 percent and a disapproval rating of 37 percent, according to the most recent poll.

Fourteen percent of those surveyed strongly approved of O'Malley, 39 percent approved somewhat, 21 percent disapproved strongly, 16 percent disapproved somewhat, and 10 percent had no opinion.

The same poll taken about a year ago showed O'Malley with a net approval of 51 percent and a disapproval of 39 percent. A year before that, Ehrlich's net approval was 55 percent with 42 percent disapproving of his job performance.

O'Malley defeated Ehrlich in 2006 after serving one term in office. Ehrlich, however, has not ruled out a 2010 rematch.

For all of you who have been following me for the past two years, first on Maryland Politics Today and now here on PolitickerMD.com, you know that I have no intents on starting a revolution, other than to get you to think about the issues affecting life here in the Free State, which I admit is becoming not so free. Many of you know that I have a personal editorial policy of not endorsing any political candidates. I will tell you which way I am leaning, but you will not hear me say, “Vote for John Doe because I said so.”

I will take a stand on an issue, like recently with Question F in Prince George’s County. For the record, I will be voting no and I encourage you to do the same. We do not need another tax hike and $17 million will not make or break the school system. However, this piece is not about Question F in Prince George’s County, it is about Question 2 in the state of Maryland, the question about slots. For the record, I will be voting NO, and I ask that you do the same.

The Star-Democrat is encouraging its readers to vote against November's controversial slots referendum.

Voters will decide in November if the state constitution should be amended to allow up to 15,000 slot machines at five different locations across the state. In an editorial entitled "Vote no to Question 2; slots will hurt Maryland," the Easton based daily paper points to a new report from the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County that highlights the problems associated with slot machines.

The editorial board called the report "damning in its conclusions."

Proponents of November's controversial slots referendum hold a 20 percent advantage over their opponents, according to the pro-slots organization For Maryland For Our Future.

Voters will decide in November if the state constitution should be amended to allow up to 15,000 slot machines at five different locations across the state. A poll paid for by For Maryland For Our Future, and conducted by the Garin Hart Yang Research Group, shows 58 percent of Maryland voters in favor of passing Question 2, 38 percent against it and 4 percent undecided about the ballot initiative.

Anti-slots group Marylanders United to Stop Slots is lambasting The Baltimore Sun for its endorsement of November's controversial slots referendum.

"It is frankly a slap in the face to the voters of Maryland and an abdication of its editorial integrity," Scott Arceneaux, senior advisor of Marylanders United to Stop Slots, said in a statement. 

State Sen. Janet GreenipGRASONVILLE -- Question 2, the ballot referendum which would allow slot machines along Maryland's I-95 corridor, took center stage at the Queen Anne's County NAACP forum on Saturday.

State Sen. Janet Greenip (R-Crofton) argued against slot machines, saying they will cause addiction and won't generate nearly as much money as people expect. Carroll Hyson took the opposite position, saying the referendum will generate roughly $660 million in new education funding each year and that addiction won't be an issue.