ANNAPOLIS – Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch publicly entered the gambling fray Monday morning, pitching a compromise to Baltimore City delegates who could hold the key votes to pass an expansion of gambling in the General Assembly’s final hours Monday.
Busch and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake offered sweeteners that would delay the opening of a sixth Maryland casino, to be located in Prince George’s County, and increase the share of revenue for operators from 33 percent to 40 percent once all casinos in the state are operational.
The measures would be added to a Senate bill that would allow a referendum on expanding gambling with another casino and table games at all the state’s slot parlors.
It’s the second bill the Senate has passed this session making a push for a Prince George’s County casino, a measure supported by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and County Executive Rushern Baker, who wants a $1 billion casino investment at National Harbor.
The latest gambling bill would expand the number slot machines available statewide by 1,000 to 16,000 slots.
However, the issue of implementing the Prince George’s casino would be left to the next session.
Some House lawmakers, still wary of such a casino’s impact on Maryland’s other five gambling sites, want to push back the opening even further than the July 1, 2015, start date proposed by Senate lawmakers.
Del. Curtis Anderson, chairman of the Baltimore delegation, said Baltimore lawmakers find the latest Senate bill unacceptable unless more measures are put in place to protect a future casino in the city.
Baltimore delegates want a Prince George’s casino opening delayed at least three years after Baltimore’s own casino opens, he said.
Anne Arundel County delegates, also concerned about the effect on a new casino at Arundel Mills expected to open in June, are expected to vote against the Senate bill, which needs 71 votes to pass the House.
The House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a voting session at 1 p.m.
