Md. officials await findings on impact of more gambling

The Washington Times ^ | June 10, 2012 | David Hill

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

A consulting firm will present its findings Tuesday on the potential impact of expanded gambling in Maryland as lawmakers continue to discuss possible legislation to add table games and a sixth casino in the state.

Representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers are expected to testify at the second meeting of the state’s Work Group to Consider Gaming Expansion, a panel of lawmakers and executive-branch officials charged with deciding whether the General Assembly should pursue a gambling expansion bill at an expected special session next month.

State officials say the panel’s recommendation will be largely based on the firm’s findings.

Lawmakers have said the analysis will go a long way toward settling the debate between supporters who say a Prince George’s County casino will bring millions in revenue to the state, and opponents who say it will simply oversaturate the market and take business from casinos in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore.

“There wasn’t any real unbiased data that I could find during the session,” House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat, said last month. “I think there are a lot of questions that have to be answered. We’ll go through that and see where we end up.”

Maryland legalized gambling in 2008 when voters approved licenses for five slots casinos in the state. Facilities in Worcester, Cecil and Anne Arundel counties have opened, but sites in Allegany County and Baltimore are still in planning stages.

This year, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Prince George’s Democrat, joined his county’s officials in pushing for a casino in Prince George’s County, which likely would be built at National Harbor in an effort to capitalize on the site’s proximity to the District and Virginia.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Maryland “Freak State” PING!