Racing Still Gets No Support

Many thought that by the end of the Maryland General Assembly, that there would be some sort of agreement, some sort of plan for the state’s racing industry’s financial situation. Instead, the assembly concluded with no support for them at all. They finished up their 90 day session with out even so much as a plan for the tracks to try and make more money.

The tribes have been asking for financial assistance, especially in the form of slot machines, ever since they started suffering financially. The tracks have been having problems competing with the tracks in other states that are allowed to have slot machines, and therefore can offer larger purses to their winners. It got even worse for them this year once Pennsylvania added their slot machines to the mix.

They told the Assembly that they were in dire trouble, and asked for them to consider slot machines, and at the very least, for them to please give them a $30 million supplement to tide them over. There was a bill for half of that that passed the House, but the Senate Finance Committee did not approve it. The reasoning is that the state is already looking at a $1.5 billion budget deficit and would not be approving any large revenue bills at this time.

The new governor said he and his legislature were “unprepared to make major decisions” regarding many of the bills that were in their laps. However, there is a bright side. The Senate has talked about a special session, and at that time – or next year at their regular session – there will be a bill involving slot machines that will probably pass at that time.


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