Maryland: Too Much KoolAid Consumption

Rolling the dice on gambling in Maryland

By Editorial Board, Published: July 28

The Washington Post

GAMBLING’S PROMISE in Maryland has been oversold so often that voters probably stopped noticing some time ago. Casinos, they were told, would rescue the dying racing industry; preserve horse farms and the open space they occupy; send a gusher of money to schools; and balance the state’s budget. Three years after Maryland voters authorized slots casinos, horse racing is still ailing, school funding remains tight and the state budget faces a structural deficit, as usual.

None of that stopped Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) from calling a special legislative session in Annapolis for next month, aimed at expanding Maryland’s gambling program to include table games at existing casinos plus a new casino in Prince George’s County.

And the governor added a new spin: In the course of a two-minute video, he referred a half-dozen times to the jobs an expansion would create as well as new revenue that would flow to schools.

This wellspring of employment, Mr. O’Malley said, would create 2,000 permanent new jobs. (That’s a pittance in the context of Maryland’s overall job force of about 3.1 million, but never mind.)

The governor is determined, as he has frequently said, to take gambling off the state’s political agenda — “to put this issue behind us,” as he said again Friday. That’s understandable, for gambling has become a stumbling block in Annapolis that threatens to make him look ineffectual as he plans a race for president in 2016.

With that in mind, he is trying to forge a deal that would satisfy an array of competing agendas. The issue has been forced in part by Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, a longtime opponent of gambling who now supports a big new casino at National Harbor, the splashy development on the banks of the Potomac. Mr. Baker, strapped for cash in Prince George’s, wants the local revenue from gambling; he also hopes to enhance National Harbor’s brand.

Mr. Baker has an apparent partner in the gaming company MGM Resort International, which badly wants to build a casino at National Harbor — so badly it dropped its insistence that the state cut taxes on gambling revenue.

A major casino in Prince George’s, whether at National Harbor or, less likely, at Rosecroft Raceway, could cut into profits — and, possibly, local proceeds — at the recently opened Maryland Live! casino in Anne Arundel County and a still-unbuilt facility in Baltimore city. Those casino owners are asking to be shielded against losses in the event a new facility comes to Prince George’s. How to do that — whether by cutting taxes on slots, authorizing table games, extending casino hours — is one question. Another is whether it is the state’s role to guarantee minimum profits at casinos indefinitely.

We long opposed casinos in Maryland as a lure to corruption and gambling addiction and a de facto tax on the poor and the lower-middle class. But Maryland voters, including nearly 60 percent of Prince Georgians, voted in 2008 to let the games (well, slots) begin.

Given that, as well as competition from neighboring states whose casinos already have table games, it was unrealistic to expect no future expansion in Maryland. While rushing an expansion of gambling would be unwise, Mr. O’Malley’s concern — that gambling has poisoned politics in Annapolis and should be addressed — is justified.

More on this debate:
The Post’s View: High stakes in Maryland
The Post’s View: Gambling’s unholy grip on Maryland
The Post’s View: Maryland should not fall again for gambling’s siren song
The Post’s View: Don’t bank on casinos


http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rolling-the-dice-on-gambling-in-maryland/2012/07/28/gJQA0HNpGX_story.html

Maryland governor backs plan for casino

By Howard Stutz
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Jul. 28, 2012 

 

Maryland's governor said Friday that expanded gaming in the state - including a Las Vegas-style hotel-casino development roughly 10 miles from the nation's capital operated by MGM Resorts International - could be worth more than $100 million annually in tax revenue for the state's school system.

In calling for a special session of the General Assembly to start Aug. 9, Gov. Martin O'Malley asked lawmakers to consider allowing an $700 million hotel-casino with full-scale gaming in Prince George's County and to let slot machine-only casinos add table games.

MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren said his company would invest $500 million in a project at National Harbor, a complex on the Potomac River in southern Maryland that is a waterfront destination for the Washington area.

MGM Resorts would oversee the project with the Peterson Cos., which developed the 350-acre National Harbor and would cover $200 million.

O'Malley said the casino would create thousands of construction jobs and some 2,000 permanent jobs.







"As much as some outsiders would like to change the subject, this discussion is about jobs and revenue for Maryland," said Murren, who was in Annapolis pitching gaming expansion.

A sticking point could be Maryland's gaming tax of 67 percent on slot machine revenues, the highest in the nation. But Murren told the Baltimore Sun on Thursday that MGM would develop the resort, regardless of the tax rate.

The governor's plan requires lawmakers and voters in Prince George's County and statewide to approve the plan.

"The compromise we're putting forward will create predictability in the marketplace, protect local and city aid being generated at current sites, ensure authorized facilities are able to be built and allow the people of Prince George's County to decide at the ballot whether they want a sixth site for the benefit of their county and revenue base," the Democrat said in a statement.

Top Democatic lawmakers joined O'Malley at Friday's news conference.

"We applaud today's announcement and respect Maryland's leaders for taking decisive action on this critical issue," Murren said. "By avoiding further delay, state leaders have the opportunity to encourage investment and job creation on a meaningful scale."

MGM Resorts, which operates 10 Strip casinos, is exploring expansion opportunities. The company has been linked with potential gaming expansion in Toronto, New York City and Miami. MGM Resorts also is searching for a casino site in western Massachusetts.

Prince George's County elected leaders support the National Harbor plan, which is opposed by Baltimore's Cordish Cos., owners of the Maryland Live! casino in neighboring Anne Arundel County.

Cordish Cos. CEO David Cordish has said a Prince George's casino would unfairly cut into Maryland Live!'s market in Washington and northern Virginia.

Regional casino giant Penn National Gaming also is expected to oppose the new casino. The company operates a casino in Charles Town, W.Va.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/maryland-governor-backs-plan-for-casino-164117266.html


Local vote in statewide Prince George's casino referendum would likely be ...
Washington Post (blog)
National Harbor developer Milt Peterson stands at the site where he wants to locate a high-end casino in Prince George's County. (Photo by Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)As he announced a special legislative session on expanded gambling, ...