Md. House Backs Referendum on Legalizing Slots

Outcome Is in Doubt as Differences Remain to Be Worked Out With Senate

The Maryland House of Delegates approved legislation in a cliffhanger vote yesterday calling for a referendum on legalizing up to 15,000 slot machines, advancing the most contentious issue being considered in a nearly three-week-old special session.

The bill, which required a supermajority of 85 delegates, would authorize slots at locations in Baltimore and Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties if voters approve it next November. It passed 86 to 52, after several days of heavy lobbying by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and House leaders.

Even with the House action, the fate of expanded gambling in Maryland remains uncertain. The Senate last week passed a referendum bill with some different provisions, as well as a far more expansive bill needed to implement a slots program. House leaders pledged to turn their attention immediately to the implementation bill, which also could be a hard sell in the chamber.

"I haven't counted quite yet," House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said when asked about the prospects of the second bill. "We're taking this an issue at a time."

If the implementation bill were to fail, it could make it more difficult for lawmakers to find consensus on other measures pending in a special session called to close a budget shortfall of at least $1.5 billion. And slots would likely dominate lawmakers' next regular session, scheduled to begin in mid-January.

During impassioned debate yesterday, supporters argued that a public vote would resolve an issue that has paralyzed Annapolis for years and prolonged the special session. Opponents countered that the vote was a first step toward ushering slots and accompanying social ills, including gambling addiction and increased crime, into the state.

"We're giving people the right to choose," said Del. Sheila Hixson (D-Montgomery), chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, which shepherded the legislation.

Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Montgomery) argued, however, that "this referendum is a Trojan horse to sneak slot-machine gambling into Maryland through the back door."

Simmons called slots "the crack cocaine of gambling" and strongly objected to pressure to support O'Malley on the issue, alleging delegates had been "subjected to a kind of political waterboarding" in recent days.

The 86 votes cobbled together by O'Malley and House leaders included several delegates who have opposed slots in previous debates -- and pledged to work for their defeat on next November's ballot -- but said they want to put the divisive issue behind them.

"It really came down to, 'What's the duty of a legislator?' " said Del. Doyle L. Niemann (D-Prince George's), a slots opponent, in explaining his favorable vote. "It's hard to philosophically justify not letting people decide on this issue."

The Senate has now passed four slots bills in the past five years. The only slots legislation to clear the House before yesterday came in 2005 and was declared dead-on-arrival in the Senate. Busch has historically been the legislature's most powerful slots opponent, but he has agreed to support a referendum.