Baltimore mayor officiates at lobbyist wedding in Vegas

From: Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘GAMING’ Future

The Baltimore Sun - May 25, 2013 - Baltimore mayor officiates at lobbyist wedding in Vegas

Guests included heavy hitters in Maryland politics
...
One thing that happened in Vegas last week certainly won't stay in Vegas: The lobbyists Lisa Harris Jones and Sean Malone were married there before about 100 well-wishers, who included some of Maryland's top government officials — including the wedding officiant, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Malone, a one-time top aide to Gov. Martin O'Malley, and Jones, perennially among the state's highest-earning lobbyists, joined professional forces five years ago and on Tuesday were married in Las Vegas by Rawlings-Blake. The mayor was attending an annual retail convention there.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-jones-malone-wedding-20130524,0,2135186.story#ixzz2Uavqy5owSee More

Chumminess???? Yup!

This sleaziness has already invaded Massachusetts.

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘GAMING’ Future

The Baltimore Sun - May 25, 2013 - Baltimore mayor officiates at lobbyist wedding in Vegas

Guests included heavy hitters in Maryland politics
...
One thing that happened in Vegas last week certainly won't stay in Vegas: The lobbyists Lisa Harris Jones and Sean Malone were married there before about 100 well-wishers, who included some of Maryland's top government officials — including the wedding officiant, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Malone, a one-time top aide to Gov. Martin O'Malley, and Jones, perennially among the state's highest-earning lobbyists, joined professional forces five years ago and on Tuesday were married in Las Vegas by Rawlings-Blake. The mayor was attending an annual retail convention there.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-jones-malone-wedding-20130524,0,2135186.story#ixzz2Uavqy5owSee More

 

 

 

"When we got engaged, we said, 'Let's do it in Vegas.' A lot of our friends were going to be out there anyway," Jones said Friday of scheduling her wedding to coincide with an annual convention attended by public officials and the retailers they would like to lure to their locales.

Indeed, among the officials who attended both the Jones-Malone nuptials and the Global Retail Real Estate Convention sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers were Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, multiple state legislators and a host of State House and City Hall staff members.

While the public officials were in Las Vegas on the taxpayers' dime, several said they considered the time they spent at the wedding, held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, part of the off-hours that occur during any business trip.

"When anyone travels on business, and that is the main purpose of the trip, there's no belief that at some point during the trip that you don't have free time," Rawlings-Blake said. "Every convention that I've been on, there's been conference time, as well as down time. I think this down time was a little higher-profile than others, but you know, people can use their down time without it being a misappropriation of taxpayer funds."

The newlyweds' firm, Harris Jones & Malone, is among the busiest lobbying groups in Baltimore and Annapolis, with clients that include unions, gambling companies, contractors, Baltimore Gas & Electric, marriage equality groups, Wal-Mart and other companies.

Malone said Gov. Martin O'Malley and his wife District Court Judge Katie Curran O'Malley "of course" were invited but declined due to, respectively, a Democratic Governors Association event and a full docket.

That the guest list for lobbyists' wedding would include many of the public officials that they regularly seek to influence is an outgrowth of the "chumminess" that develops in government hallways, political observers said.

"It's a kind of clan," said Matthew Crenson, a Johns Hopkins University political scientist professor emeritus. "They get together and talk shop and trade rumors."

"Lobbyists, when the legislature is in session, take them out to dinner and lunch all the time," he added.

Among those attending the wedding, according to the Afro newspaper, which first reported on the nuptials on Wednesday, were Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Sens. Catherine Pugh and Joan Carter Conway, Del. Dereck Davis and the acting deputy secretary of transportation, Leif Dormsjo.

"This just shows how close the relationship is between lobbyists and government officials," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Sloan said that can pose a problem if lobbyists ultimately have an undue influence on how, for example, legislation is crafted. But, she added, "it doesn't seem like anyone was wasting taxpayer dollars" if the officials were already in Las Vegas for the convention.

Brown said he attended the wedding after a couple of days of meetings and before heading to the airport Tuesday evening to return to Maryland. Brown said he has known both Jones and Malone, an aide to O'Malley since his days as a councilman then mayor, for years.

"I think that friendships are not mutually exclusive from your professional pursuits," said Brown, who recently announced his campaign to succeed the term-limited O'Malley. "You see that in so many different professions."

Brown said he didn't see a problem with mixing a little bit of pleasure with the business he was conducting in Las Vegas.

"It's no different than when county officials go to Ocean City for [the Maryland Association of Counties conference], and go to the beach in the afternoon between the conference meetings and seminars."

It is a second marriage for both Malone and Jones, who live in Ruxton, and they have three sons between them. Jones was formerly married to Pless Jones of P&J Contracting, which does much demolition work for the city.

Their lobby firm has close ties to city and state officials. Associate Caitlin McDonough, for example, is Senate President Miller's former legislative director.
Malone and Jones said that despite their marriage, Jones, as the founder of the lobbying firm, would remain the majority partner.

"I tried to negotiate" a bigger share, Malone, 46, said with a laugh.

No can do, Jones, 45, said. "It's just a separation of church and state."

Sun reporter Justin Fenton contributed to this article.

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-jones-malone-wedding-20130524,0,2135186.story#ixzz2Uavqy5ow

 

 

Now they're letting inmates run these asylums

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘Gaming’ Future

Now they're letting inmates run these asylums

The Baltimore Sun - April 3, 2013 - Assembly passes bill to open casino jobs to some ex-offenders - Measure sent to governor's desk
...
In a move to open thousands of middle-class jobs to former offenders, the General Assembly gave final approval Wednesday to legislation that would allow Maryland casinos to hire some people currently banned because of criminal records.

The Senate voted unanimously to approve the House-passed legislation. The measure goes to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who has not said whether he will sign it.

Sen. Verna Jones-Rodwell, a Baltimore Democrat who sponsored the bill, said the legislation would provide job opportunities for people who committed minor infractions in the past.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-casino-hiring-20130403,0,1783383.storySee More

 

 

Maryland: Buried in $56 MILLION Advertising

Maryland gambling issue has netted $56 million from companies for ad blitz
By John Wagner
Published: October 20
The Washington Post

Dueling out-of-state gambling companies and their allies have poured $56 million into the fight over whether to allow a Las Vegas-style casino in Prince George’s County, fueling an unprecedented advertising blitz in what has become one of the most visible races in the region.

The money, which is being shelled out at a rate of $6 million a week, exceeds what the candidates spent in Maryland’s past two gubernatorial races combined. With two weeks to go, the spending has already eclipsed that of all but a handful of other recent ballot measures across the country. And it is unlike anything previously seen in Maryland politics.

The fight over Question 7, as it will appear on Maryland’s Nov. 6 ballot, has included celebrity endorsers, including illusionist David Copperfield and “Golden Boy” fighter Oscar De La Hoya, who said in a recent robo-call that the proposed casino would be a “destination resort” that will create “thousands of jobs for hard-working people.”

Those claims, funded in large part by the $21 million MGM Resorts has ponied up so far, have been met head-on with a nearly $30 million campaign by Penn National Gaming aimed at convincing voters that the promised jobs and money for education won’t materialize.

The ads have targeted an electorate that in 2008 approved Maryland’s slots program in a landslide, 59 percent to 41 percent. But now, among likely voters this year in Maryland, 46 percent favor Question 7 while 48 percent are opposed, according to a new Washington Post poll that also shows widespread doubt that the measure would boost education funding as advertised.

In addition to a Prince George’s casino, the expansion plan, backed by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), would also allow table games, such as blackjack and roulette, at the state’s five previously authorized slots locations.

Maryland voters embraced the slots plan just four years ago in a relatively low-dollar referendum — with a combined $8 million in spending and muted opposition — that set the previous record for a statewide ballot-issue campaign in the Free State.

This year’s ads have been so relentless that O’Malley recently pushed back, telling reporters in Annapolis, in unusually colorful language, that the opposition claims were “hogwash, a bunch of West Virginia casino hooey.” He has since appeared in an ad funded by MGM and its allies seeking to rebut the claims.

Those ads have touted the money that could be generated for schools by expanded gambling, as well as the promise of thousands of jobs. Proponents, such as O’Malley, have also argued that Penn’s opposition stems from its own business interests: Its properties include Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, W.Va., which stands to take a big hit if another large-scale venue opens in Maryland.

MGM has a lot at stake as well. The company, which owns several hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas strip and elsewhere, is angling to build a high-end casino by 2016 at National Harbor, the mini-city on the banks of the Potomac River. MGM executives envision a 400-room hotel, a spa, high-end retail and restaurants, convention space, and possibly venues for concerts and shows.


From comments:

So it comes down to we have a choice between a Pennsylvania based gambling chain and another which essentially lost its New Jersey gambling license because of suspected ties to organized crime.

When Marylanders first voted for slots, a few years ago, it was promoted to save the horse racing industry. But along the way, the idea got hijacked. The prostitutes in Annapolis sold out to the gambling chains so now we have only one horse racing related facility out of five.

I say a pox upon both of their houses. Start voting no for any additional casinos.

We already have enough corruption in Maryland

BOTTOM LINE: Your vote for Question 7 is a vote to support a firm with suspected ties to organized crime to get a toe hold at National Harbor.

Bad ideas (cigarettes, casinos) are often promoted by big ad campaigns. Hopefully the ad money is being spent with Maryland firms. Any net benefit from jobs at casinos (nice, high skilled jobs that will employ our underemployed college grads?) will be more than balanced by the fact that casinos are really a tax on people who don't understand mathematics and statistics - the lowest paid members of society who can least afford to gamble - and use the lure of gambling as a substitute for planning for retirement. If the revenues from casinos will help so much - let's legalize prostitution - those revenues will probably far exceed the revenues generated by casinos - generate lots of jobs for small businesses, and lots of tax revenue for the state.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/maryland-gambling-issue-has-netted-56-million-from-companies-for-ad-blitz/2012/10/20/4e20eda0-1a3c-11e2-aa6f-3b636fecb829_story.html

Maryland: $13 MILLION spent and the answer is NO!

Poll finds support for same-sex marriage, but not gambling

Maryland referendum questions fill November's ballot

Gambling expansion

The casino-backed committees on the two sides of the gambling debate have each spent at least $13 million to persuade Maryland voters, but The Sun poll shows that opponents may be getting more bang for their buck.

According to the poll, 53 percent of Maryland voters oppose Question 7, which would permit table games at Maryland casinos and allow a new gambling palace in Prince George's County, while 38 percent would vote yes.

Meanwhile, those against the gambling measure have opened up a huge gap in voter enthusiasm, with 43 percent of opponents saying their views are strongly held. On the other side, only 24 percent say they are strong in their support.

The results are especially challenging for gambling supporters, led by MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, because the pool of voters describing themselves as undecided is shallow, 8 percent.

Opposition to the expansion cuts across party lines — even though the measure that will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot is the work of a Democratic governor and General Assembly. Republicans are rejecting the measure by 67 percent to 26 percent. But Democrats, too, are opposed, 46 percent to 44 percent. Independents and third-party supporters say they will vote no, 56 percent to 36 percent.

The Democratic rejection of the gambling measure is largely driven by negative numbers in the party stronghold of Montgomery County, where 54 percent of voters plan to vote no and only 34 percent yes.

The margin could be an indication that the proponents' arguments that the proceeds from expanded gambling would benefit education are not convincing voters. Opponents, led by Penn National Gaming, have pushed the theme that there are no guarantees that the money will remain in the schools.

Some voters support gambling philosophically but don't like the manner in which Gov. Martin O'Malley and General Assembly leaders got the measure on the ballot. They include James H. Thomas Jr., a 61-year-old UPS retiree from Dundalk, who plans to vote no.

"O'Malley handled this behind closed doors," Thomas said. "It was put off to a special session. There are tax deductions for whoever runs these gambling conglomerates. I really don't like that."

In Prince George's County, which is expected to gain an important new revenue stream if the measure passes, voters are giving Question 7 only tepid support — 52 percent yes to 42 percent no.

Raabe said that if support doesn't pick up in Prince George's, the measure is likely doomed statewide.

"They should be for it by 30 points," Raabe said. "Even Prince Georgians are pretty lukewarm about it."

The measure does have strong supporters in the county, including Myra Henderson of Hyattsville. Like a 56 percent to 32 percent majority of African-Americans, the 62-year-old retired Social Security Administration employee says she will vote yes, partly because she likes to gamble and would enjoy a casino at National Harbor — the most likely location if the voters approve.

"It would be closer to home," she said. "Why go to Atlantic City or wherever, when you could go right here?"

The modest margin of support in Prince George's is more than offset by heavy opposition in Baltimore. City voters currently oppose the measure, 57 percent to 34 percent, despite Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's support.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-poll-20120929,0,4686517.story?page=2

September 29, 2012

Poll: Voters support Dream Act, close on gay marriage, slightly opposed to gaming expansion

Len LazarickMarylandReporter.com

 The contest to allow a sixth casino in Maryland and table games in all of them is close, with 45 percent of Maryland voters supporting the expansion, 46 percent opposed and 9 percent undecided. African-Americans again are the swing vote, with only 31 percent favoring the idea, and 64 percent opposed, compared to 51 percent of Democrats as a whole in favor of the proposition.

This divergence on the issue between white and black Democrats, Gonzales said, “could present an obstacle on Election Day for supporters of expanded gaming in Maryland.”
 The contest to allow a sixth casino in Maryland and table games in all of them is close, with 45 percent of Maryland voters supporting the expansion, 46 percent opposed and 9 percent undecided. African-Americans again are the swing vote, with only 31 percent favoring the idea, and 64 percent opposed, compared to 51 percent of Democrats as a whole in favor of the proposition.

This divergence on the issue between white and black Democrats, Gonzales said, “could present an obstacle on Election Day for supporters of expanded gaming in Maryland.”

Maryland's Misleading Information

[Much like Massachusetts!]

Extra gambling money doesn't mean more money for schools

September 8, 2012

 

Ben Giles

Staff writer - Prince George's County

The Washington Examiner

 

School spending in Maryland won't increase just because more money is expected to flow into its Education Trust Fund through an expansion of gambling, according to tax experts.

 

Lobbying groups on both sides of the issue are running ads focusing on education spending.

 

Anti-gambling advertisements are bashing plans to allow a Prince George's County casino, table games such blackjack and roulette and 24-hour casino operations -- all measures requiring the approval of voters statewide on ballots in November.

 

The ad, paid for by the committee Get the Facts - Vote No On 7, says a loophole allows the state to avoid increasing spending on education.

 

"There's actually no obligation to use revenues in Maryland's classrooms," according to the committee's website.

 

Pro-gambling ads tout the gambling plan's ability to generate $199 million in new revenue for the Education Trust Fund.

 

Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute, says the Get the Facts ad is not entirely true -- but what is accurate is that Maryland's spending on education won't be affected by an increase in gambling revenues.

 

Money put in the Education Trust Fund will increase $174.5 million from gambling profits by fiscal 2017, according to state budget analysts. But at the same time, they project the state to reduce the amount of money from the general fund used on education -- meaning that money can be used elsewhere.

 

"I wouldn't call it a loophole; I would call it a shell game," Bergsman said. "The casino money that goes to schools doesn't add to the amount of funding for state schools, it just relieves the need for tax dollars to be used for education aid."

 

A spokeswoman for Gov. Martin O'Malley said no one in the administration has ever suggested that increasing education funding from gambling would dictate how much the state spends on schools.

 

"The education costs grow every year for inflation, [a state law that requires increases in per-pupil spending] ... and also the geographic cost of education index," said spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. "[Gambling] funds will be used to make sure we continue to meet those every year to keep pace with inflation and growing costs."

 

MGM Resorts International, which reached an agreement this summer with developers at National Harbor to build a resort casino should their site be chosen, has given $2.4 million to a pro-casino campaign committee, For Maryland Jobs and Schools.

Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns Hollywood Casino Perryville and Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia, as well as another potential Prince George's casino site, Rosecroft Raceway, has given $5.5 million to the Vote No On 7 committee.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/extra-gambling-money-doesnt-mean-more-money-for-schools/article/2507376

Maryland: Early Christmas Present to Gambling Industry

August 16, 2012 

Md. governor signs measure expanding gambling

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gov. Martin O'Malley has had misgivings over the years about raising money for the state of Maryland through gambling, and while he had hoped he would only need to ask voters once whether to allow an expansion, he has decided he needs to do it again.

"I don't believe that people want our state to be a casino state," O'Malley said in an interview with The Associated Press in October 2010, shortly after the state's first slot machine facility opened in Perryville following voter approval of a constitutional amendment in 2008 to help pay for education. "I believe they approved slots at five locations in order to keep some of those Maryland dollars in Maryland, and I think it's the right approach for Maryland."

On Wednesday, he signed legislation that will give voters a chance to decide whether to approve table games like blackjack and a casino in Prince George's County.

Whether they approve or not, the issue of gambling expansion in Maryland will be linked prominently to O'Malley's two terms as governor: The state now has three up-and-running slot machine facilities and could become home to some of the country's largest casinos, including one near the nation's capital.

"We've been able to come together during this second special session to create a comprehensive solution to a number of outstanding issues that were affecting Maryland's gaming industry and Maryland's ability to compete with surrounding states where gaming is concerned," the governor said Wednesday at a bill signing ceremony, where he did not linger to take questions.

Once again, the governor addressed gambling expansion in a special session, which began late last week, instead of the Legislature's annual 90-day session, opening the door to critics who say it was a rushed process that will lead to troubling flaws.

Correcting problems from a special session almost five years ago turned out to be a significant reason for calling this special session to lower the state's tax rate, allow casinos to be open 24 hours and divest the state of staggeringly expensive slot machine ownership.

O'Malley, a Democrat, had hoped the state's gambling debate would be settled after a 2007 special session, which he called to raise taxes and allow slot machine gambling to help tackle a budget deficit.

So how'd that work out for ya?

Then, lawmakers decided on a 67-percent tax rate, which was been significantly lowered by varying degrees and conditions in the session that ended Wednesday. Casinos could keep about half of the proceeds now, instead of one-third.
In February, he stayed clear of backing more gambling, noting at a forum sponsored by The (Baltimore) Sun that he was "not barking up that tree," when asked about gambling proposals under consideration at the time.

O'Malley changed course about two months later when passage of a budget agreement broke down in April, practically hand in hand with a gambling bill backed by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.

The embarrassing episode caused the governor to call a special session in May to fix the budget mess. He then called this special session to handle the gambling component.

"All of us know very, very well how divisive this issue has been for us in the past," O'Malley said Wednesday. "We are now able to put this issue behind us and move forward."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57494557/md-governor-signs-measure-expanding-gambling/