The slots debate is heating up as Election Day nears. Aside from electing the next president, legalizing slot machines are one of the biggest issues facing Marylanders next week. Both sides are stepping up their efforts here in the final stretch.
Local leaders with the Maryland Association of Counties met in Annapolis Wednesday to urge voters to say yes to slots. Howard County Executive Ken Ulman says, "If slots does not pass, the cuts that come from the state will be so significant that it will imperil our ability to make progress in education."
Meanwhile, State Comptroller Peter Franchot joined forces with Baltimore City Comptroller Joan Pratt to urge voters to vote no on question 2. Franchot says, "In these times of financial stress... The worse possible thing would be to vote for question 2." The slots referendum would bring 15,000 slot machines to 5 locations across Maryland including one in Baltimore city.
Supporters say it would pump an extra $600 million a year into the state but opponents beg to differ." Mike Osborne, a former gambling addict, now the director of Harbour Pointe, an organization that helps gambling addicts through recovery, says “This isn't free money falling out of the sky. It's coming from the citizens pockets." Slot machine supporters say revenue from slots will raise much needed funding for education and will lower taxes. It's a passionate debate ultimately in the hands of Maryland voters on November 4th.
