Maryland Republicans Imperil Passage of Slots Plan in Senate

"He's very talented, but I don't think he's that talented," said Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), one of a handful of senators jockeying to succeed Miller if he steps down as president when his term expires in 2010.

Frosh, a slots opponent, said if the Republican senators are taken at their word, "there's no point in having a special session. I don't think the governor can get the necessary votes for slots without the Republicans."

Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County), who has supported slots in the past, said, "It's possible, but it makes it very difficult" to pass a slots bill in the Senate without GOP support.

Miller was quick to condemn his Republican colleagues for their stance on O'Malley's tentative slots proposal, which would steer $100 million a year to the horse-racing industry as well as raise money to close the shortfall.

"They're letting the horse industry down," Miller said of the Republicans. "They're letting the rural areas down. They're letting the breeders down."

Miller also suggested that the Republican stance on slots was part of a broader pattern of obstructionism. "There was a time when people were elected to make government work," he said. "Since Newt Gingrich, every time the Republican Party didn't get their way, they want to stop government."

Nine Republicans joined 17 Democrats in voting for the slots bill that passed the Senate in 2005. The 26 votes received were two more than needed for passage.

Busch said that he does not think the 71 votes required to pass the bill in the House can be obtained without Republican support.

Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), a former delegate, plans to step up his campaign to defeat slots today with appearances at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and in Silver Spring. Neither location is under discussion for a slots parlor, but Franchot said he will warn that "slots, once introduced, will spread to every neighborhood and community in Maryland."

Some Democrats contended yesterday that former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) engineered the GOP announcement on slots. Ehrlich was thwarted during his tenure in multiple efforts to legalize slots.

Henry Fawell, a former Ehrlich press aide who now works for his law firm, said GOP leaders sought Ehrlich's counsel but "this was solely their decision."

"Obviously, though, he thinks anything that stops the largest tax increase in history is a good thing," Fawell said.

Staff writer Ann E. Marimow also contributed to this report.