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Hearing on slots (in MD) attracts hundreds of foes
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| Contributor | U Ole Polecat |
| Last Edited | U Ole Polecat Mar 24, 2004 06:32am |
| Category | News |
| News Date | Mar 24, 2004 12:00am |
| Description | From the article:
As hundreds of opponents filled the hallways of the Lowe House Office Building and stood in line for hours to try to enter the packed hearing room, such prominent Maryland leaders as U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan told delegates that gambling is the wrong path for the state's future.
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Proponents of slots said residents are already spending hundreds of millions of dollars per year on gambling.
"We get the problems. Delaware and West Virginia get the money," said Del. Clarence Davis, a Baltimore Democrat who is sponsoring a plan to permit slot machines at the state's racetracks.
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The governor - who did not testify yesterday but might next week - has said the slots measure is crucial to pay for promised spending increases for public education, and analysts say his plan could bring in more than $800 million a year.
But Gilchrest, one of the state's leading Republicans, said gambling is the easy - and wrong - route to take, suggesting that a House Democratic tax plan "needs some legitimate debate and discussion."
"This is not a partisan issue. I am not breaking with the party," Gilchrest insisted. Nevertheless, he asked, "if gambling constitutes an economic strategy, why wasn't it used in the Great Depression?" |
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