August 15, 2007|By Andrew A. Green | Andrew A. Green,SUN REPORTER
Christopher B. Summers, who heads the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a market-oriented think tank, said legalizing slots and subsidizing the horse racing industry are separate questions and should not automatically be considered together. "Subsidizing the horse racing industry is spending revenue, and slots is a vehicle to raise revenue," Summers said. "It really comes down to a great question of public welfare, which is: Should we continue to subsidize an industry, one that appears to be losing customers ... and can't stand on its own?"
In his report, Perez concludes that horse racing is worth saving because it provides economic and environmental benefits. A University of Maryland study from 1999 found that the industry had an annual economic impact of $600 million and directly or indirectly supported 9,000 jobs. Furthermore, he wrote, horse farms cover 685,000 acres, roughly 10 percent of the open space in the state.
"There are not many industries that provide such a wide range of benefits in terms of employment, economic development and the preservation of open space," said Joseph A. De Francis, CEO of the Maryland Jockey Club, who reviewed the report yesterday.
Beyond demonstrating that the governor considers slots and horse racing to be linked, the Perez report provides little clue as to how O'Malley will approach the issue.
Perez did not discuss the conflicts that have led to past stalemates over gambling, such as locations for slots parlors, methods for distributing licenses, aid to communities affected by slots, and distribution of revenue.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, an Anne Arundel Democrat who has been the chief opponent of slots in the Assembly, said he appreciates Perez's points about the problems faced by Maryland's horse industry but found little new in his analysis.
For a bill to succeed in the House, it would have to meet a number of conditions, Busch said, such as preventing the "unjust enrichment" of track owners, providing an auction process for licenses that gets the best deal possible for the state, minimizing the impact on communities and maximizing state regulatory control.
The House passed such a bill three years ago, Busch said, adding that he sees little enthusiasm for the issue in his chamber now.
"If Governor O'Malley wants to go in this direction, we should learn from what happened in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and other states so Maryland can have the best deal it can possibly have," Busch said.
Miller said yesterday that he will follow O'Malley's lead in finding a compromise. "We've studied the issue, and it's just a question of the will among some important individuals to pull the trigger," he said.
Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the minority leader from Southern Maryland who was briefed by O'Malley on the report last night, said there is potential for common ground between Republicans and the governor on slots.
"I think there is a growing recognition that raising $1.5 billion in new taxes or cutting $1.5 billion of the state budget cannot be the solution by itself," O'Donnell said. "The only other proposal on the table is slots. In very real terms, I think there is growing recognition that it has to happen."
