The rapidly increasing proliferation of east coast gaming looks to be going south; further down the coast that is. Now it looks as if Maryland could be the next state looking to plug budget shortfalls with casino gambling.
In a measure this week, Maryland legislature gave the nod to let the people of the state decide if they want to allow upwards of 15,000 slot machines throughout the state. The vote would take place next November and if the referendum passed by majority vote. If the voters do give the thumbs up to casinos, plans are to have five different casinos in five separate counties, which are Baltimore City, Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester.
The move is the latest salvo in what seems to be becoming the inexorable expansion of casino gaming throughout the northeast and mid-Atlantic states. Until the mid-1990s casinos were only allowed in Atlantic City, NJ. With the legalization of Indian gaming, casinos came to Connecticut in the form of the two world’s largest casinos; Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. But the last few years have seen a raft of current and potential future development that has the whole country watching.
Several years ago New York began a plan to allow casinos and shortly thereafter Pennsylvania voters decided to allow casinos in their state too. The first ones opened last November and have been breaking all conceivable estimates of amounts wagered, which has totaled in the billions. Since then, Delaware has expressed interest in expanding its gaming to include sports betting, the governor of Massachusetts is floating a plan for a trio of massive casino resorts, while West Virginia is adding table games and some say a new casino is still a viable possibility in Rhode Island. It’s almost a done deal as voters are beginning to get an “us to’ attitude about casinos. Attitude has shifted in the United States of gambling being a sinful activity to a great way to fill up state coffers. People are going to travel to casinos anyway, arguments go, so we might as well have them here too and get a piece of the action.
In the United States, gross gaming revenues for commercial casino industry climbed 6.8 percent in 2006 to reach a new record of $32.42 billion according to the American Gaming Association (AGA). Additionally, more than four in five (82 percent) American adults say it’s an acceptable activity for themselves or others.
So now Maryland legislators figure its time to get in on the action before it’s too late. The state’s Senate also passed a bill earmarking funds to figure out just how a slots program would work in the state and look into such details as licensing procedures. The vote was 25-19 in favor of the program.
The slots plan passed by the Senate dictates that 48.5 percent of gaming proceeds be used for an education trust fund while 33 percent will go to whoever operates the machines. The remaining 19.5 percent will be used to increase purses to pump up the money in the state’s ailing racing industry as well as to be utilized for other state expenditures. The program would be under the auspices of the Maryland State Lottery Commission. That commission would dole out the slot licenses.
"It's the first time in a long time that I can truly say I'm optimistic about the future of Maryland racing and the Preakness," said Louis J. Raffetto, Jr., president of the Maryland Jockey Club, which operates Laurel Park and Pimlico, home to the Preakness Stakes to the Baltimore Sun. "This gives us a fighting chance to maintain Maryland's racing heritage."
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