BERLIN -- Conceding there is stiff resistance to slot machines in many communities, the owner of Ocean Downs told lawmakers yesterday that they should let Maryland racetrack owners build satellite slot emporiums if neighbors object to the devices being added to the tracks.
William J. Rickman Jr.'s pitch to the House Ways and Means Committee to allow slots away from the racetracks -- a significant expansion on past proposals from the racing industry -- stunned at least one member of the panel, which is studying gambling in Maryland.
"I was shocked," said Del. Anne R. Kaiser, a Montgomery County Democrat. "They had been selling the idea that it had to be at racetracks only because those were established gambling locations."
The debate over where slots should go is taking place as key legislative decision-makers and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. continue to argue over linking slots to tax increases.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Del. Sheila E. Hixson, chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, say revenue from slots alone won't solve the state's fiscal problems and that the money won't come in quickly enough.
Hixson has said "gaming will be done in conjunction with a tax increase" or it won't be done at all. She said her panel will examine various proposals for raising taxes, including a two-year, temporary sales tax increase or a rise in income tax rates for those with the highest income levels.
Ehrlich reiterated yesterday that he will not accept a tax increase as part of a slots package. He said he believes there is a lot of posturing. "I don't get their mind-set," he said.
Yesterday, Hixson's committee toured Ocean Downs, a harness track near the resort town of Ocean City, as well as an off-track betting parlor in Cambridge and an Elks Club in Easton that has five slot machines. Slots are allowed at some nonprofit organizations in eight Eastern Shore counties.
Rickman urged lawmakers to include all of the state's licensed tracks in any slots legislation -- including Ocean Downs and Maryland State Fairgrounds track in Timonium.
Those tracks were omitted from the slots-at-tracks bill Ehrlich introduced this year, in large part because of staunch opposition from nearby residents who worry about traffic congestion, crime and other side effects from the casino-style gambling operations.
