Senate Panel Approves Slots
Bill That Drops Ocean Downs, Makes Sites Compete
By Stephanie Tracy
Capital News Service
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004 ANNAPOLIS - A Senate panel passed Gov.
Robert L. Ehrlich's slots proposal Tuesday night with significant
amendments, including an agreement to drop Ocean Downs race track from the
list of possible slots sites in the state.
The 11-2 vote by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee came after a
storm of criticism from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate Republicans
over the Ocean Downs proposal, which had been added by the committee before
it backed down Tuesday.
As amended, the slots bill would put a total of 15,500 machines at three
racetracks and three off-site locations in the state, with licenses awarded
on a competitive basis.
Four racetracks -- Pimlico, Laurel Park, Rosecroft and a proposed
Allegany County track -- would compete for three racetrack slots licenses
and four jurisdictions -- Baltimore City and Prince George's, Cecil, and
Dorchester counties -- would compete for the three off-track licenses.
Besides dropping Ocean Downs, the committee also altered the list of
potential homes for non-track slots sites. Howard, Harford and Baltimore
counties were all deleted from the governor's original bill.
In addition to tweaking the list of locations for slots venues, the
committee also made significant changes to the way revenues would be
distributed.
The bill would send the one-time revenue from license application fees --
expected to be about $52 million -- to school funding. In contrast to
Ehrlich's plan to give track owners a flat percentage of slots revenues, the
bill now creates a sliding scale that lowers the share going to license
holders as total slot profits increase.
Local development grants and purse funds would also be funded by slots
revenues. The rest of the revenue generated by slots would go to the
Education Trust Fund.
Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, R-Somerset, opposed the bill on personal
grounds but said Tuesday he was comfortable because Ocean Downs was out of
the picture. He also doubted slots would come to Dorchester County.
"To put slots in Dorchester, you'd have to change the existing law that
mandates that half of the money from slot machines go to charity," Stoltzfus
said.
Ehrlich had called slots at Ocean Downs a "deal-breaker," and Ocean City
Mayor Jim Mathias urged lawmakers during the initial bill hearing to keep
slots out of Worcester County.
Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer, D-Howard, said the committee considered an
Eastern Shore slots location geographically fair.
"The vast majority of the committee felt that Ocean Downs would be of
maximum benefit to the state, but apparently the committee got the wrong
impression that Ocean Downs was an option," Kasemeyer said.
Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah, D-Prince George's, said this year's slots bill was
"much improved" from the governor's first slots bill last year. That bill
called for 11,500 slot machines at the Pimlico, Laurel and Rosecroft race
tracks, and designated 46 percent of slots profits for the Education Trust
Fund.
"The tracks now have to compete for the licenses," Lawlah said.
The committee also adopted Lawlah's amendment to prevent more than one
license within a two-mile radius.
"Bringing slots to my district would have a tremendous impact, so I felt
I had to do something to protect my district," she said.
Last year's bill passed the Senate 25-21, but died in the House, where
lawmakers opted instead for a study of expanded gambling.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel, has said the House will
wait for the bill to come over from the Senate this year before considering
the issue.
Copyright © 2004
University of Maryland
Philip Merrill College of
Journalism
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