From Delegate Kathy Szeliga:
Special Session – A Gambling Session
Special Session – an activity devised to test the patience and long suffering of the members of the House of Delegates. This entire exercise has been an example of the disorganization and poor leadership in Annapolis.
The very important issue of expanding gambling should have been taken up during the regular 90 day session, either this past winter or next year. However, the Maryland General Assembly did finally vote in support of the gambling bill. The new casino in Prince George’s County will not come on line until 2017, Baltimore City in 2015 and Allegany County will not get table games before 2014. But online casinos like daisyslots.com will start being released very soon. Clearly there was no emergency involved in this issue and absolutely no reason to rush this measure through in a couple of days.
Some highlights of the bill that passed:
– Opens up a 6th gambling location in Prince Georges County
– Opens all venues to full table gaming
– Currently, the casinos must close at 2 AM on weeknights and 4 AM on weekends. This measure rescinds the limited hours of the casinos and allows them to be open 24 hours a day – 365 days a year
– Tax breaks will be given to all six casino owners that other businesses do not get
I voted against this bill. I voted no because the process was wrong in rushing this huge change in policy through in a few short days. Citizens and interested parties did not have the proper amount of time to study the issue and let their legislators know of intended and unintended consequences. There was a work group that met in the spring to study this issue and they could not reach a consensus. (There were no voting Republicans in the workgroup – it was a handpicked group.) The work group did recommend that the legislature NOT be called into a special session. Yet, this issue was rammed through the General Assembly in a special session in the usual monopoly control fashion.
The promised financial windfall to the State from gambling will not materialize as promised. Looking back to the slots debate in 2005, analysts in Annapolis estimated that four slots venues would yield $1.047 Billion annually. This was so grossly overestimated, as the promise of slots and table games are overestimated today. In the end, the six fat cat casino owners will get triple the amount of money than the “children,” in the promised Education Trust Fund.
The bill passed with 71 votes, the exact number needed. The vote against this bill was bi-partisan. We agreed that there was no reason to rush this measure through the General Assembly in a special session, it needed a more thoughtful and thorough approach to the whole process.
Pit-bull bill dies in the Senate
I voted for Senate Bill 2, a measure that addressed the recent court decision that unfairly targets a single breed of dog, pit-bulls. SB 2 puts responsibility squarely in the hands of dog owners and eliminates any mention of a specific dog breed. My son owns a pitbull and she is a wonderful dog, not aggressive or mean. SB 2 passed unanimously out of the House of Delegates.
Unfortunately, the Senate refused to take up our amended bill and so it did not pass. Look for this issue to be revisited during the 2013 legislative session that begins on January 9, 2013.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming my way.
Delegate Kathy Szeliga
This is what happens when a state is run by Democrats. Maryland now has the distinction of being the most liberal state in the country. It’s interesting to note that the states that are now being run by Republicans governors have lower unemployment rates than the national average. Many of the blue states are in deep financial trouble such as California and Illinois.
Democrats only know one thing and that is to spend the citizen’s money into oblivion. They load up on social programs and push for the public unions which are bankrupting many cities in the country. Now Maryland is pushing the gambling to bring more money into a state which should cut its spending. Maryland is surrounded by other states which also have gambling so I would suggest the delegate is correct that the windfall from gambling is overblown. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. Thank goodness I no longer live in this socialistic state.
So the Dems gave tax breaks to their friends, the millionaires and billionaires…
I thought that was the Republicans! So the Democrats aren’t any different.
The only difference is the two parties disagree on who should get the tax breaks/refunds.
Let’s thank State Delegate Rick Impallaria for his effort in Annapolis Tuesday night. Finally our veteran’s organizations such as The American Legions and VFW’s will be allowed gamming. We all know that gambling is here to stay and now our veterans clubs will be able to have 5 machines. I would also like to thank Senators Barry Glassman and J. B. Jennings for their support in the senate. What is disappointing to me is that our other delegates voted against the bill knowing that if the veterans did not get gamming in the special session, they never would. It was more important to them to hand the Governor a defeat than help the veterans. By reading the papers they all sound happy now but when the arm twisting by leadership started they all caved, but 1. Some counties such as Cecil and Kent have had gamming in veterans clubs for years. Those counties got that for there support for the construction of the subway. Harford County was to be part of that but then elected State Delegate Barbara Osborn Kreamer rejected it and our local veteran’s organization has been suffering ever since. I would also like to point out that the bill passed by only 1 vote.
From a gold star sibling, Thanks!
Richard D Schafer
Havre de Grace
Sorry, Richard, but the benefit to VFW and American Legion does not outweigh the purpose and impact of this bill. Impallaria knows that and so should you. The Dem/Libs won’t give the American Legion and VFW a break because the Dem/Libs do not respect the military service represented by the members. If Impallaria is saying the reason he voted is VFW/AL then he is being disingenious at best and he is a RINO that needs to be replaced. Impallaria voted to lower the corporate taxes on the gambling industry which means I will have to pay more in the future.
Thanks to Rick we now have 5 machines to help the vetrans orginazition. This is not dependent on passage of the bill in November. Rick a rino? You don’t know Rick! You can vote against the bill in November if you don’t like it. I probably will do the same. What do you have against vetrans anyway.
Richard,
Don’t be an jackass! There is nothing in anything I wrote or have ever written on Dagger that leads anyone to believe I am against veterans.
I am against the bill and I will do my best to oppose anyone who voted for it. Period. Anyone. And if Impallaria voted for it then I will be watching to see who runs against him to see if I can support that candidate.
And you say you will probably vote against the bill that Rick supported and voted for? Would the real Richard D Schafer please stand up?
You’re missing the problem – gambling is sold to every state as the solution to “budget shortfalls.” Political speak for “we can’t possibly cut our budget in any way so we’re going to hammer each and every person who pays taxes!” Gambling is a farce – look around the country – it provides another trough for the politicians with all sorts of rosy promises: “new schools” “elder care” “job training”. The reality is that none of this happens because the money is spent before it even reaches their cash register. So, now MD joins many others as having this lame, mini-Vegas goal with on a Dollar General feel (no knock to Dollar General!, and the same budget shortfalls as always – ’cause nobody will ever CUT SPENDING!!
Fed Up,
But O’Malley has told us repeatedly that all he has done since he took office is cut, cut, cut. Surely he won’t tell me a fib would he?
Nothing in anything? Veterans got slots, that’s something. As far as your views towards vetrans, there is no way we can tell, you don’t use your name.
Richard Schafer