Maryland slots bill rejected again

Gretchen Parker

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 9:29 a.m.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Hours before the end of the 2004 legislative session Monday, lawmakers killed Gov. Robert Ehrlich's slot machines proposal for the second consecutive year.

Ehrlich's sophomore bid to legalize slot machines died just as his freshman proposal did: in the House Ways and Means Committee, which kept the legislation from reaching a full vote in the House of Delegates chamber. Committee members voted 21-0 to kill the version of Ehrlich's bill that the Senate passed earlier in the session.

Between meetings Monday on the House floor, committee members rushed to vote on the bill Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller had declared dead Friday after the failure of last-minute negotiations among himself, Ehrlich and House Speaker Michael Busch.

"People get themselves in these hardened positions, and they can't work toward a compromise," said Delegate Clarence Davis, D-Baltimore, a slots supporter who led the House's gambling subcommittee. "All the hard work I've done ... is going down the drain, because we can't seem to come together at the top."

Ehrlich said a slots machine proposal will return, although he didn't say whether he would sponsor it.

"I can never give up," the Republican governor said.

Several Republican delegates said they were upset the vote came so late in the session, about 10 hours before the finale.

"I've very disappointed we had to wait until the 90th day" to vote, said Delegate David Boschert, R-Anne Arundel. "I personally feel we did a disservice to many, many people in this state by not taking it up earlier."

Votes were cast on a House version of the bill as well, without any of the 30 proposed amendments, which included measures requiring Marylanders to carry gambling identification cards and forbidding people who owe child support from entering slots parlors.

Other amendments would have ruled out some counties as possible locations for slot machines. Ehrlich's bill would have legalized up to 15,500 machines at six locations.

"Without the time to go through these and evaluate them, I simply cannot vote for these bills," Delegate Jean Cryor, R-Montgomery, said.

The votes came after an extensive slots study by the House committee. Its members toured racetracks and held hearings statewide over the summer to gauge Marylanders' sentiment about the issue that has divided the General Assembly since Ehrlich campaigned in 2002 on a promise to legalize slots.

"We spent months studying this and then at the 11th hour to be told we're going to vote straight up or straight down without amendments -- I cannot vote for these," Delegate Terry Gilleland, R-Anne Arundel, said.

Busch has maintained the legalization of slots would need to be tied to a tax increase to help Maryland resolve its long-term budget shortfall. But he backed away from his $670 million tax proposal last week, as Ehrlich and Miller, a slots supporter, conceded the slots bills had slim chances of passing.

Ehrlich has said repeatedly that he would not accept any significant tax increases, even as part of a deal to secure passage of his bill.

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