ELECTION 2008: Voters give the numbers to slots
Local farmers, horse breeders relieved; early voting also passes
By Derek Simmonsen
dsimmonsen@patuxent.com
Posted 11/06/08
Local farmers and horse breeders breathed a sigh of relief today as voters passed a referendum to allow slot machines in Maryland.
“We’re on our way now. The light at the end of the tunnel has gotten lighter,” said Brice Ridgely, who owns Spring Meadow Farm in Cooksville with his wife Mary Anne. “There’s relief all the way around in the ag community.”
On the two ballot questions facing voters yesterday, Howard County voters were in step with the rest of the state, approving slot machines in Maryland and opening the door for early voting.
After years of heated debate on the issue in the General Assembly, voters backed the slots amendment by a strong margin. Statewide, it passed 59 to 41 percent, while Howard County voters approved the amendment 57 to 43 percent.
The proposal will place 15,000 slot machines among five counties: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties and Baltimore City.
About half of the money, 48.5 percent, will go to public schools, including school construction, with 33 percent going to slot machine operators. Another 7 percent will go to racing purses and the horse-breeding industry and 3.5 percent over eight years would go to racetrack improvements.
Any change in allocating the money would have to be approved through another voter referendum.
Gov. Martin O’Malley, as well as some local unions, chambers of commerce and small business groups, supported the proposal as a way to offset a projected $1 billion budget deficit.
But opponents, including a number of religious leaders, said the money will not reach the levels predicted by its backers and other social ills, such as gambling addiction, crime and broken homes, would result.
“I think it’ll be to the detriment of Maryland citizens in the future,” said Louis Pope, of Fulton, the former head of the Howard County Republican Party.
Doing it in the form of an amendment rather than through the legislature is a mistake, he said, because it will require another referendum every time a location is added or dropped.
But County Executive Kenneth Ulman, a Democrat, said the money from slots not only helps local farms and horse breeders in Howard County, it also will help the county’s budget.
“It’s clear that this is not the savior of our economic issues in Maryland,” Ulman said. “But when you know you have a revenue source on the horizon, it helps you make longer-term decisions that hopefully will save the counties from dramatic reductions in state aid.”
State Del. Frank Turner, a Columbia Democrat who serves as chairman of the House subcommittee that hears all gaming and lottery issues in the state, said passing the referendum helped avoid worse alternatives.
“I’ve never been one who loves slots, but at the same time, I’m a practical person and I realized the significance of not passing it would mean an awful lot of cuts to a lot of programs in the budget,” Turner said. The other equally bad alternative would have been to raise taxes, he said.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved the early voting amendment, which authorizes the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation that would allow residents to vote early up to two weeks before an election and to cast a ballot at any polling place in the state.
It also allows the General Assembly to drop a requirement that absentee voters must be absent or otherwise unable to vote on Election Day.
Staff writer Bryan P. Sears contributed to this story.
“We’re on our way now. The light at the end of the tunnel has gotten lighter,” said Brice Ridgely, who owns Spring Meadow Farm in Cooksville with his wife Mary Anne. “There’s relief all the way around in the ag community.”
On the two ballot questions facing voters yesterday, Howard County voters were in step with the rest of the state, approving slot machines in Maryland and opening the door for early voting.
After years of heated debate on the issue in the General Assembly, voters backed the slots amendment by a strong margin. Statewide, it passed 59 to 41 percent, while Howard County voters approved the amendment 57 to 43 percent.
The proposal will place 15,000 slot machines among five counties: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties and Baltimore City.
About half of the money, 48.5 percent, will go to public schools, including school construction, with 33 percent going to slot machine operators. Another 7 percent will go to racing purses and the horse-breeding industry and 3.5 percent over eight years would go to racetrack improvements.
Any change in allocating the money would have to be approved through another voter referendum.
Gov. Martin O’Malley, as well as some local unions, chambers of commerce and small business groups, supported the proposal as a way to offset a projected $1 billion budget deficit.
But opponents, including a number of religious leaders, said the money will not reach the levels predicted by its backers and other social ills, such as gambling addiction, crime and broken homes, would result.
“I think it’ll be to the detriment of Maryland citizens in the future,” said Louis Pope, of Fulton, the former head of the Howard County Republican Party.
Doing it in the form of an amendment rather than through the legislature is a mistake, he said, because it will require another referendum every time a location is added or dropped.
But County Executive Kenneth Ulman, a Democrat, said the money from slots not only helps local farms and horse breeders in Howard County, it also will help the county’s budget.
“It’s clear that this is not the savior of our economic issues in Maryland,” Ulman said. “But when you know you have a revenue source on the horizon, it helps you make longer-term decisions that hopefully will save the counties from dramatic reductions in state aid.”
State Del. Frank Turner, a Columbia Democrat who serves as chairman of the House subcommittee that hears all gaming and lottery issues in the state, said passing the referendum helped avoid worse alternatives.
“I’ve never been one who loves slots, but at the same time, I’m a practical person and I realized the significance of not passing it would mean an awful lot of cuts to a lot of programs in the budget,” Turner said. The other equally bad alternative would have been to raise taxes, he said.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved the early voting amendment, which authorizes the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation that would allow residents to vote early up to two weeks before an election and to cast a ballot at any polling place in the state.
It also allows the General Assembly to drop a requirement that absentee voters must be absent or otherwise unable to vote on Election Day.
Staff writer Bryan P. Sears contributed to this story.
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