MARYLAND lawmakers get a chance to participate this week in the hoopla surrounding the 129th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown scheduled for Saturday.
All 188 legislators have received invitations for a Friday night party held by the Maryland Jockey Club. This year's version of the annual event will be held at the B&O warehouse at Camden Yards as the game between the Orioles and the Anaheim Angels gets under way.
The Jockey Club has been in the midst of the intense debate in Annapolis over whether slot machine gambling should be legalized, and, if so, where the machines should be located. The club is a part-owner of the Pimlico and Laurel racetracks; racing aficionados worry whether Pimlico Race Course will survive if gambling is legalized but Old Hilltop doesn't get a share.
But Timothy Capps, Maryland Jockey Club executive vice president, said the party is an inefficient way to convince policymakers of the club's needs.
"It is more of a media party," he said. "We invite the media people who are covering the Preakness. ... We've had it every place you can imagine - every place that could accommodate a crowd that included 700 or 800 people."
Because of its size, Capps said, the party is not a good place for the horse-racing industry to buttonhole lawmakers and press its case for slots. "We invite every member of the General Assembly," he said. "Not many come. We are not really trying to encourage a lot of elected officials to attend. ... We're not talking to people about political issues."
State ethics laws prevent lobbyists from entertaining individual lawmakers, and require that invitations for meals and parties be extended to entire groups - such as a committee, or, in many cases, the entire legislature.
Lawmakers also cannot accept gifts worth more than $20 from people who want to do business with the state. Those who also want to attend the Orioles game must pay for their tickets, Capps said. He could not say last week how many had purchased them.
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