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Pennsylvania Decision Revives Maryland Slot Debate

MARYLAND – As reported by the Baltimore Sun: "A day after Pennsylvania lawmakers announced a tentative agreement to install up to 61,000 slot machines at racetracks and other locations there, Maryland leaders revived their debate over whether the state should rush to pass its own gambling plan, perhaps as soon as this summer.

"'Pennsylvania has changed the lay of the land so much that it is imperative we proceed immediately,' said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Prince George's County Democrat who supports slot machine gambling in Maryland.

"Miller said he wants the General Assembly to convene a special session in July or August to discuss slots legislation, a suggestion that received a lukewarm response from House Speaker Michael E. Busch, an Anne Arundel County Democrat.

"Busch's chamber has quashed slots bills for two consecutive years, and the speaker favors increased taxes instead of expanded gambling to pay for Maryland's future needs in education and health care.

"…Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican who has been thwarted in his efforts to bring slots to Maryland racetracks and other sites, used the news from Pennsylvania to exert more pressure on Busch and the House of Delegates to yield…"

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