The House of Delegates is poised to vote on Gov. Martin O'Malley's slots referendum plan this morning after a frenzied day of amendments and lobbying that put the measure closer to passage in that chamber but still left the fate of gambling in Maryland uncertain.
The day began with a surprise about-face by a key House subcommittee on the locations of slot machine gambling parlors and ended with a technical hangup that delayed a floor debate and votes.
All day, legislative leaders and O'Malley scrambled to secure the "supermajority" of 85 House votes needed to put a slots measure on the November 2008 ballot.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch said last night that the chamber's leaders and O'Malley were working to get the necessary votes. He said that he didn't know how many more votes they needed, but that several Republicans who had said they would vote for the bill have apparently decided against it.
"They seem to be wavering on giving the people a vote on slots through a referendum," the Anne Arundel County Democrat said.
Speaking last night after receiving an award from Progressive Maryland, O'Malley said he intended to stay up all night trying to get more House votes.
"I'm working it as hard as I possibly can," he said. "It's a tough climb. Having to reach a super-majority all within the Democratic Party on this issue is really, really difficult. Hopefully, we'll make progress overnight and get this done" today.
The version of a slots referendum before the House today is nearly identical to one the state Senate approved last week and to O'Malley's original proposal. It calls for a referendum on allowing 15,000 machines at five locations - one each in Baltimore City and in Anne Arundel, Allegany, Cecil and Worcester counties. That would allow slots at Laurel Park racetrack in Anne Arundel and Ocean Downs racetrack in Worcester, but not at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course.
The House Revenues Subcommittee removed the Ocean Downs site Wednesday night and added possible locations in Frederick and Harford counties. But the subcommittee abruptly reversed those decisions yesterday.
"You've got to count your votes, and you've got to know if you've got 85," said Del. Frank S. Turner, a Howard County Democrat who chairs the subcommittee. "Eighty-four wont cut it."
The House bill would require another referendum to expand gambling in the future, but the Senate bill would allow new forms of gambling - such as table games - with a three-fifths' vote of the legislature.
