Maryland Republicans Imperil Passage of Slots Plan in Senate

GOP Won't Offer Support for Bill During Special Session

Maryland Senate Republicans said yesterday that they would not provide any votes for a bill legalizing slot-machine gambling if Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) calls a special legislative session this fall, a development that threatened to unravel the governor's efforts to win quick action on a plan to address a $1.7 billion budget deficit.

O'Malley is counting on slots proceeds to eventually yield $550 million a year for the state, and it is the one piece of his revenue package that Democratic legislative leaders have said would almost certainly require Republican votes to pass. The last slots bill to pass the 47-member Senate, in 2005, would have fallen seven votes short without GOP support.

Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick) said that some of the chamber's 14 Republicans continue to support slots. But, Brinkley told reporters, Republicans are so disappointed with other aspects of O'Malley's plan that they want a longer debate when lawmakers return for their regular 90-day session in January.

"Senate Republicans are united in withholding their support for any new gaming initiatives during a special session," Brinkley said. "We cannot offer those votes in a special session devoted to an unnecessary massive tax increase on Maryland's citizens that would have long-range, negative repercussions on our economy."

House Republicans have not taken such a hard line on slots, but GOP leaders have also signaled in recent days that their votes should not be taken for granted in the 141-member chamber. The only slots bill to have passed the House in recent years, in 2005, received the bare minimum number of votes needed for passage, with 35 Republicans joining 36 Democrats in favor.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), a slots opponent, said that the recent development reinforced his view that lawmakers should wait until January to weigh in on O'Malley's proposals, which include multiple tax increases.

"I counseled the governor that there's a lot of pitfalls to a special session," Busch said. "Some of that's starting to come to fruition, thankfully before the governor announced it."

In an interview, O'Malley sought to play down the significance of the Senate Republicans' announcement and said he is committed to pressing ahead with plans for a special session by early next month.

"I think it's irresponsible not to try," O'Malley said. "Obstruction is easy. Doing nothing is easy, but it's not responsible."

O'Malley also warned that if a budget package, including slots, is not passed in coming weeks, "we may well default to a really painful scenario of deep cuts to important services."

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), a major slots proponent, said it might be possible to win Senate passage of a slots bill with only Democratic votes, saying that the magnitude of the budget shortfall presents "a totally different environment" from that of past years.

Other members of his chamber were not convinced that Miller could persuade enough senators to support a slots plan, however.