Frederick County Floated As Possible Site for Slots

The Maryland House of Delegates began weighing Frederick County as a possible site for slot machines yesterday, with some key lawmakers arguing that it could appeal to Montgomery County residents who now travel to West Virginia to gamble.

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The discussion came as a House panel took up one of the toughest issues remaining in a special legislative session called by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D): a proposal to hold a referendum next year on placing up to 15,000 slot machines at five locations in Maryland. The Senate passed a bill last week that would put slots parlors at locations in Baltimore and in Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties, pending approval by voters in November 2008.

Del. Frank S. Turner (D-Howard), chairman of a House subcommittee with jurisdiction over slots legislation, asked his colleagues whether it would make more sense to include Frederick in the bill, given the significant number of Montgomery residents who travel to Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia.

"The whole concept here is to generate revenue and capture revenue," Turner said. "That should be the number one issue."

His view was echoed by Del. Craig L. Rice (D-Montgomery), another panel member. "I just don't understand why we're leaving that off the table," Rice said of a possible Frederick location, which is opposed by some lawmakers who represent the area.

Deliberations slowed considerably yesterday on other issues central to the two-week-old session called by O'Malley to address a projected budget shortfall of at least $1.5 billion next year.

The House Appropriations Committee spent much of the afternoon wrangling over nearly $500 million in possible spending cuts next year. House leaders had planned to seek passage yesterday of a health-care bill also being considered as part of the session. But as talk about proposed budget cuts dragged on, a planned afternoon floor session was postponed until the evening, and the health-care bill was dropped from the agenda.

The House was hobbled by similar delays Saturday, as Democratic leaders struggled to round up votes for a pair of bills raising about $1.4 billion in tax revenue.

Some lawmakers said they were not surprised by the slowdown, given the scope of the legislation.

"This is a very complicated, fast-moving process," said Del. Murray D. Levy (D-Charles), a member of the Appropriations Committee, which debated the spending cuts. "A lot of the delegates have not seen this stuff before. It's only reasonable that there are going to be questions, and the process slows down."

As a result of the House's pace, Senate leaders announced that the chamber would not reconvene until Thursday. The Democratic-led Senate wrapped up its initial work Friday on five bills proposed by O'Malley to close the shortfall and raise additional funds for transportation and health-care priorities.

House deliberations over slots are expected to resume today. The issue has paralyzed Annapolis for years. In a bid to break the deadlock, O'Malley proposed letting voters resolve the issue, but it remains unclear whether House leaders can secure the supermajority of votes required to do that.