(Enlarge) A bank of slot machines at the Charles Town racetrack in West Virginia. Several years ago the racetrack augmented their horse racing with slots. (File photo)

(On Election Day, we'll have updated coverage throughout the day and night on explorehoward.com)

In 2007, after years of heated debate among politicians, business and citizen groups, the Maryland General Assembly approved the wording of an amendment to the state constitution that would legalize video lottery terminals -- what most people call slot machines.

On Nov. 4, as voters in Howard County and around the state head to the polls to cast their vote for president, they also will have a chance to vote on that amendment.

If the referendum to amend the constitution is approved, Maryland will join neighboring West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware in dipping into a slots revenue stream.

The amendment, Question 2 on the ballot, states that 15,000 slot machines would be divided among five jurisdictions: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties and Baltimore city. No jurisdiction would have more than one slots location.

The proposed amendment provides that nearly half of the slots revenue would be earmarked for the education of children in public schools, including school construction, with smaller portions going to supplement purses at struggling state racetracks as well as to funds supporting the horse breeding industry and racetrack improvements.

And that is it. Any deviation from the distribution of slots as described in Question 2 would require approval of the voters through another referendum to change the state constitution.

As the economy has cooled over the last year, the slots debate has heated up.

Pros and cons

Proponents of the referendum, such as Gov. Martin O'Malley and a collection of unions, chambers of commerce and small business groups, say the machines are necessary to better fund schools and help offset a budget deficit projected at $1 billion in 2010.

Fred Puddester, chairman of pro-slots For Maryland For Our Future, said failure to approve slots would be "the double whammy."

"To put ourselves in a position where we have to deal with a significant downturn based on economic factors, in addition to still having this structural imbalance, would be devastating to the state," he said.

Opponents, including a grass-roots coalition of elected Democrats and Republicans, as well as activists and religious leaders around the state, say slots don't belong in the state constitution. They argue revenue wouldn't reach projections and that slots would bring a host of social ills, including more addiction, crime and broken homes.

Scott Arceneaux, senior adviser to Marylanders United to Stop Slots, said elected officials in his home state of Louisiana, where gambling is legal, sold slots as a panacea that would raise state revenue, generate jobs and improve schools.

Now, he said, the state is "basically left with a service-based economy that doesn't grow good jobs, doesn't generate new revenue and basically leaves you with all the ills and none of the gains."

On Oct. 22, the Maryland Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Catholic Church in Maryland, announced its opposition to the slots referendum.

A news release from the group stated that "the common good is not served and human dignity is not promoted when budget needs are addressed through revenue streams likely to increase the burdens on low-income families and expand social ills."

Machine distribution

If the amendment is approved by the voters, Anne Arundel County would get 4,750 machines; Baltimore city, 3,750; Worcester County and Cecil County, 2,500 each; and Allegany County, 1,500.

Education projects and slot machine operators would get the lion's share of the cash, taking 48.5 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Racing purses and the horse-breeding industry would get 7 percent with an additional 3.5 percent across eight years earmarked for a racetrack renewal fund. That fund would be capped at $100 million annually.

Local governments that have slots in their jurisdictions would split 5.5 percent of the money based on the number of machines in each local jurisdiction.

'Fantasyland figures'?

Not everyone is in agreement on the dollar amount slots would generate.

Legislative analysts project slots would generate as much as $1.4 billion, with $660 million going to schools.

State Comptroller Peter Franchot, a staunch foe of slots, called the state's revenue estimates "fantasyland figures."

An analysis of potential revenue performed by researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County projects slots would not generate as much as the state predicts.

The Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research study estimates that slots would bring in between $687 million and $1.4 billion.

To reach the state's projections, Maryland casinos would have to capture every Maryland gambling dollar that now goes out of state, about $400 million, and bring in an additional 150 percent of that amount, said Donald Norris, director of the UMBC research group.

Norris, one of four authors of the 30-page study released Oct. 14, said hitting those totals was unlikely.

"You're not going to get everyone that goes out of state," he said. "You're not going to get every player in the state. Some will continue to go out of state just because that's where they like to go."

Puddester, of pro-slots For Maryland For Our Future, called the study a good effort but said researchers missed the mark. He said state projections were both conservative and attainable.

Without slots revenue, he said, Maryland would have to cut services or shift costs of state-funded programs to local jurisdictions, he said.

Eyes on the purse

Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, said the industry's money would go to racing purses. The increases would be expected to encourage more breeding in Maryland.

Homebred horses could race in the state and be eligible for higher purses under statebred programs, Goodall said.

The state racing industry has lagged behind neighboring states in the size of purses available for winners bred in the state.

"We haven't been able to compete on any meaningful level lately with surrounding states because they've been funneling money to their incentive funds," Goodall said.

The breeders association spends up to $5 million annually on purses for Maryland horses. Pennsylvania was spending $11 million a year before the legalization of slots in 2004. Goodall said Pennsylvania hopes eventually to get to $25 million per year with slots.

Goodall and others also said that money from slots in Maryland would allow horse breeders to stay in business, thus protecting horse farms from being developed.

But Norris said claims that slots will protect open and agricultural space fail to take into account that local jurisdictions control which parcels can be developed.

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