Md. Senate President says slots could benefit county; governor, local officials cool to idea

Md. Senate President eyes bringing slots to county

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland Senate president said Thursday he’s interested in bringing slots to Prince George’s County, but Gov. Martin O’Malley and county leaders did not sound enthusiastic about the idea.

Getting slots in the county east of Washington, D.C., would first require passage of a bill in the legislature and then approval of another contitutional amendment by voters. Currently, slots are allowed in five other locations approved by voters in a 2008 constitutional amendment.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said lawmakers need to evaluate whether it makes sense to add a site.

“I’ve got an interest in Prince George’s county, quite frankly,” Miller, who represents part of the county, told reporters, suggesting that Rosecroft Raceway could be a “prime site.”

Miller, a Democrat, also mentioned the National Harbor and an equestrian center in Upper Marlboro as possible locations.

“It would help with our schools, it would help lower taxes and it would be good for economic development,” Miller said, adding that no legislation has been drafted yet.

Miller said he is confident voters would approve the idea if it were on the ballot, but that he would want the support of state Sen. C. Anthony Muse, who represents the area where Rosecroft Raceway is located, before pursuing any plan to bring slots there.

Muse, a minister, said he has “social concerns” about slot machine gambling but is “open to looking at all possible options” to protect the financially troubled Rosecroft Raceways.

“It has the potential there to produce hundreds and hundreds of jobs and so we’re looking at all viable options,” Muse said.

The President of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., which owns and operates Rosecroft Raceway, said he has been working with legislative leaders to determine ways to keep the racetrack financially viable.

Cloverleaf’s Kelley Rogers said he’s been focused on bringing card rooms to the facility, but he’s “enthusiastic about anything that brings revenue to Rosecroft.”

Other officials seemed surprised by the suggestion.

Prince George’s County executive Jack Johnson has not spoken to Miller about it, according to his spokesman, but Johnson has long opposed allowing slot machines inside Prince George’s limits.

O’Malley, when asked by reporters Thursday afternoon about the idea, said it was the first he’d heard of it this session.

“Oy,” O’Malley said, noting lawmakers already had a long and difficult debate on slot machines during the 2007 special session.

“I wasn’t interested in this session in doing anything other than focusing on job creation and protecting jobs and fighting the foreclosure wave and the other things that are hurting our middle class,” O’Malley said.

The governor also noted that the reason there was not a location in the county before was “because of the insistence of the Prince George’s delegation there would be no location in Prince George’s.”

Still, he said he was looking forward to hearing more about Miller’s idea.

Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2008 that allows up to 15,000 slot machines in five locations, with one facility each in Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties, the city of Baltimore and state-owned property at Rocky Gap State Park in western Maryland.

State officials hoped the machines would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue once they became operational, but the plan has hit snags because of the recession. So far, three licenses have been awarded and none have been issued in Baltimore or western Maryland.

Associated Press Writer Brian Witte contributed to this report.