The 23 state delegates from Prince George's County voiced unequivocal opposition to any legislation allowing slot machines in their county, a decision that triggered the collapse yesterday of the sale of the Rosecroft racetrack.
The family of baseball mogul Peter G. Angelos stunned Rosecroft's owners yesterday morning by balking at the $13 million deal to buy the faltering track as they sat down to formalize the agreement.
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The decision, which cost the Angelos group its $500,000 deposit, came just 12 hours after Prince George's delegates agreed Monday night to oppose any bill that would permit slots in the county, including at the harness track.
"The delegation is united," said Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard (D), chairman of the county's House delegation. "The consensus was that we not be a part of any slots legislation, and that Prince George's be removed from any bill."
Both developments came at a pivotal point in the 90-day General Assembly session for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s proposal to allow a total of 15,500 slot machines at horse tracks and other locations across Maryland.
A House committee is scheduled to hold hearings today on the governor's bill, and the Senate has planned an initial vote this morning on its version of the legislation.
The governor's bill ran aground in the past two General Assembly sessions, and Ehrlich has said his expectations for its passage this year have been tempered. "I've remained cautiously optimistic," Ehrlich (R) said yesterday.
The governor's aides said yesterday that the unified stance against slots in Prince George's County could dramatically simplify efforts to win support for a gambling bill. The governor would not be averse to signing a slots bill that puts no venues in Prince George's County, so long as the bill raises the money he is seeking to support the racing industry and to pay for $150 million in annual school construction needs, said Paul E. Schurick, Ehrlich's communications director.
"There have been a lot of conflicting signals from the Prince George's delegates and senators," Schurick said. "If this reflects a consensus, we welcome that."
Schurick said the Angelos family decision to withdraw from Rosecroft would "not help or hurt." Others said yesterday that the development will simplify what has become a complicated effort by lawmakers to satisfy a tangle of powerful interests vying to expand gambling in Maryland.
Angelos, owner of the Baltimore Orioles, has substantial sway in Annapolis, in part because of his donations to Maryland politicians. A recent search by Common Cause/Maryland found that his law firm and 11 entities that share the firm's address have given $141,725 to candidates and political action committees since 1999, in addition to more than $46,000 donated by Angelos and members of his family.
Many believed that it was the family's stake in Rosecroft that led slots supporters in the Senate to push a bill that -- despite heavy opposition in Prince George's -- would have placed the machines at two venues in the county. Putting them at Rosecroft alone would have angered developers of National Harbor, who did not want to see the nearby harness track emerge as the county's lone gambling draw.
Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Baltimore County) said the Angelos pullout will eliminate that dilemma. "It will knock the steam out of those who have been saying that slots at Rosecroft is a lock," he said.
One place the decision was not welcomed was at Rosecroft. Directors of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners' Association, which was selling the struggling track, put out a statement yesterday expressing disappointment that the Angelos group "abruptly canceled" the deal. They said the deal fell apart "due to Mr. Angelos's concern over the events taking place in Annapolis regarding legalizing slot machines."
