After days of vote wrangling that lasted until the final seconds of the roll call, the House of Delegates narrowly approved a plan yesterday to let voters decide next year whether slot machine gambling should be legalized in Maryland.
"Tonight was a major tipping point," Gov. Martin O'Malley said after the vote. "We still have a long way to go. We still have other steps to take, so stay tuned."
The House voted 86 to 52 -one more vote than needed - to put a slots referendum that would change the state Constitution on the November 2008 ballot. Five Republican delegates joined 81 Democrats in supporting the measure.
The House and the Senate must reconcile their differences over their respective referendum bills. Also, the House Ways and Means Committee plans to take up a companion bill this morning that lays out the details of how a slots program would be implemented.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch has said he does not know whether he has the simple majority of 71 votes to pass the companion bill, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller has said passing one bill without the other would amount to "fraud."
Busch had been working with O'Malley for days to win over a "supermajority" of 85 votes, or three-fifths of the delegates, required to pass the constitutional amendment. It wasn't until the vote was under way that they secured the last couple of votes needed.
"For five years, we have not been able to build consensus" on the slots issue, Busch said. "The citizens of Maryland want resolution and overwhelmingly, by the polls you read, would like an opportunity to vote on the issue."
Del. Roger Manno, a freshman Democrat from Montgomery County, said he agreed to vote for the bill at the behest of Busch aides who fanned out through the chamber when the vote count came up short and Busch held up the final tally. Afterward, O'Malley approached Manno outside the chamber to shake his hand and said, "I know that was hard on you. Thank you."
"My heart was heavy from beginning to end," said Manno, who is "philosophically opposed" to slots but agreed to let voters decide. "I do think that democratically this is the way to go."
Miller has said he intends to await House action on the second bill before negotiating a compromise on the referendum bill. The Senate passed both slots bill last week.
