Maryland Business

By: jackie.sauter

Not a huge surprise, but…

The Maryland Association of Counties is calling for a “yes” vote in this fall’s referendum on whether to allow slot machines around the state. MACo has backed slots since Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. was in office, largely as a way to pay for public education improvements.

At a news conference Thursday, MACo leaders struck a tone that you’re likely to hear throughout the campaign. Essentially, advocates say we need slots to shore up the state’s finances once and for all. After all, slots are expected to bring in more than $1 billion by fiscal 2012.

Here’s what Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., who is also MACo president, had to say:

“Without the slots revenue, Maryland will be looking at creating a new budget deficit or higher taxes or significant cuts to education.”

Slots foes say it is not fair to ask people to make what they see as a distasteful choice in order to avoid a perceived outcome that is even worse.

“There can be investments made that don’t come with the incumbent cost of slots,” Scott Arceneaux, a senior adviser to Marylanders United to Stop Slots, said during a panel discussion last week. He says slots will wind up hurting Maryland by causing problem gambling.

Do you think it’s just politics? What do you think would happen if the referendum were to fail? It will surely make for some interesting reading over the next year or so.

ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer