Posted on 02/25/2005 7:04:44 PM PST by nypokerface
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The state House narrowly voted Friday to legalize slot machines in Maryland, bringing Gov. Robert Ehrlich one step closer to fulfilling one of his biggest campaign promises.
The Senate previously adopted an Ehrlich-backed measure that calls for far more machines. If the two versions can be reconciled, the bill will go to governor, a Republican who for three years in a row has submitted legislation to legalize slots.
The House bill passed with 71 votes, the minimum number required.
"This is not my bill," the governor said, but added: "It's not over yet. We know that. We believe we can make this bill an even better bill."
Ehrlich wants to legalize the machines to raise revenue for the state's ailing schools.
The House version would authorize up to 9,500 slot machines and bring in a projected $1 billion in revenue. The Senate bill would authorize up to 15,500 machines and bring in $1.6 billion in revenue.
The bills also differ in how they apportion the state's share of the revenue. Under the Senate bill, the money would go mostly toward classroom instruction. The House bill would put most of the revenue toward school construction.
Religious groups and other slot machine opponents warned that slots will lead to crime and compulsive gambling and are not a reliable source of revenue for balancing the budget.
This is a sad day. I'm from Maryland and this could hurt my state very much. Bob Ehrlich is such a RINO.
This is a good thing for Maryland. MD needs this to keep horse racing alive. Just wait, in a few years the folks that didn't want them in PG or Baltimore city will be begging for them once they see the jobs and money going into the areas.
Yeah, but he jacked up the tax for out of state workers (i.e. those living in Delaware, but working in MD). Unfortunately, the idiot Dems who control DE through Wilmington are too stupid to even realize this. I guess this makes it a smart thing to do, but as a Delawarean, it ticks me off...
Translation-"paying off the teacher's unions".
In the 1950s, the slots were all over southern Maryland. You couldn't go into a gas-station bathroom without running into a one-armed bandit. They were in all the restaurants in North Beach, Chesapeake Beach, etc. In a fit of morality in 1961, I think, Annapolis bade them begone. The counties that had them went back to being tobacco-road backwaters.
The Thornton plan demands another 1.3 billion dollars a year for the bottomless pit that is the public schools. Money for this boondoggle has to come from somewhere, and if it isn't slots then it will be a hike to the income or sales tax.
I don't think much of gambling and don't think government should be encouraging or profiting from it, but when the alternative is raising my tax burden even further, bring on the slot machines.
Playing slots is the most addictive form of gambling there is. It destroys folks lives day in and day out, and if near large metro areas, the number of such persons will grow exponentially. This is not a minor issue.
I'm not voting for him again and a good many in W.MD won't be, either.
Ironically, he specifically thanked western Maryland for his victory, the day after his election.
This is going to resonate in the WV legislature now in session. With MD giving slots the OK, table gaming advocates in WV will have more ammo.
(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")
My guess is that the only thing slot machines will bring is financial ruin for those with no self control and financial "considerations" for Dem candidates.
Huh??? This is a VOLUNTARY tax ... there is NOTHING more Republican than that! Slots are a good thing for the state... but where the money is spent will be the real battle. I advocate LOWERING state income taxes. The Republicans in the state were really supportive... it was Michael Busch and other Democrats who led the opposition. Who's the RINO????
Gambling may generate some taxes but it comes with some hidden costs. These include social costs (crime, drugs, insolvency, etc), over site costs (there will need to be some sort of government commission) and also the loss to the retailers of money that might have gone for legitimate goods and services.
If this is a measure to raise funds, I think that there might be better bets.
No taxes will ever be lowered.
It's an empty promise designed to fool people into allowing the slots that they [and their constituents] do not want.
The slots are what Ehrlich wants, not what the communities he plans to force them on want.
One of the places that they'll be allowed is just west of me.
We DO NOT want them here but nobody gives a damn what WE want although it's OUR lives they'll be affecting.
No "new jobs" will created for the locals.
People will move here to work the slot casinos, just like the people moved here to work all the new "industrial/technology parks".
The locals do not have the education or skills necessary to work the "new jobs" coming here.
We are being innundated by the DC suburbanites "following the jobs" westward.
We do not want organized crime moving in and you know it will.
It's bad enough that we've had to start locking our doors at night for the first time in anyone's memory.
In Hagerstown, property takes jumped 60% because suddenly, developers have seen the paradise that is western MD, just waiting to be exploited.
Tragically, they're hastening the exploitation by slowly economically strangling the people who've lived here for generations.
The entire cost of living is skyrocketing beyond what is "normal" because suddenly the land is "worth more", because developers are willing to pay exhorbitant prices to be on the bleeding edge of the urbanization of the area.
Retailers are adjusting their prices to fit the new people who make 10-20 times more money than the locals.
Do you think we can show our birth certificates or proof of length of residency and get a "locals" discount?
Once a tax is raised, it is rarely ever lowered again.
The 2-year tag renewals were supposed to be 'temporary', remember?
How long ago was that?
Not only are they now permanent, they have doubled.
The indigenous people will not be able to afford to live here much longer and will move to WV or further west in MD.
That's exactly what the plan is.
Shove out the "hicks" and bring in the high paid suburbanites.
The western MD economy will grow and flourish at the expense of those who have been here for generations.
Is that right?
What if it were happening to -you- or -your- elderly parents?
Study the history of Howard and Frederick counties and tell me I'm wrong.
People are coming here from Frederick county now because they can't afford to live -there- anymore.
http://www.littleorleans.org/pages/1/page1.html?refresh=1083941725025
http://casinomagazine.com/managearticle.asp?c=250&a=63
We don't want the damn horse racing track, either.
Let them keep their crud down in the cities where it belongs.
It won't be conservatives or Christians patronizing these places.
Think about that, if nothing else.
Some things are more important than mammon.
In 2006, a lot of the votes he got in 2002 will not be there again.
He can count on that.
He promised not to "ignore" W.MD like Glendening did but we sure didn't count on *this* kind of "attention".
Now we're a potential valuable real estate resource awaiting exploitation and nothing more.
He better start reading the local paper's opinion page.
He's the subject of a -lot- of very unhappy letters, mostly written by people who voted for him.
"Its better than raising taxes."
Think about that.
It's tantamount to "either I raise the taxes or you vote for the slots."
Sounds a bit like blackmail, put that way, doesn't it?
That's not sitting well with a LOT of people because that's exactly how they see it.
You said it.
My libertarian gut tells me that I shouldn't care what grown adults want to do with their money.
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