Howard County Chamber of Commerce

November Slots Referendum

A Public Forum on the 2008 State Ballot Questions

The Chamber’s Legislative Committee is pleased to inform you that the Chamber has partnered with the League of Women Voters and the Association of Community Services to present a Public Forum on the 2008 State Ballot Questions. The one-hour program will educate the Howard County voters on the two questions that will appear on the November ballot.

Ballot Question 1—a Constitutional Amendment on Early Voting; Polling Places; Absentee Ballots. This topic will be addressed by an explanation by Lu Pierson, president of the League of Women Voters of Maryland. The topic will feature Senator James N. Robey, Legislative District 13, for the question and Senator Allan H. Kittleman, Legislative District 9, against the question.

Ballot Question 2—a Constitutional Amendment Authorizing Video Lottery Terminals (Slot Machines) to Fund Education. This topic will be addressed in the form of a debate by members of For Maryland for Our Future and Stop Slots Maryland. Speaking on behalf of For Maryland for Our Future will be Kathleen T. Snyder of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and Gloria G. Lawlah, Secretary of Aging. Speaking on behalf of Stops Slots Maryalnd will be Aaron Meisner of Stop Slots Maryland and Shawnta Walcott of Ariel & Ethan, LLC. The debate will be moderated by Andy Barth.

The production will be taped on October 14, 2008 at the Howard County Public School System’s Application & Research Lab TV Studio (10920 Rt.108, Ellicott City, MD 21042) at 10:00 am. Any interested audience members must arrive between 9:30 and 9:45 am. Studio seating is limited to 50 persons.

This program will be rebroadcast on GTV according to the following schedule:

GTV (Verizon 44 and Comcast 99), Tuesdays, Oct. 21 & 28 6 -7 pm; Thursdays, Oct. 16, 23 & 30 from 6 -7pm.

Howard Community College (Verizon 41 and Comcast 96), Mondays, Oct. 20, 27 & Nov 3 from noon - 1pm and 6 - 7pm; and Thursdays, Oct. 16, 23 & 30 from 10 - 11pm.

Contacts: Heidi Gaasch, the Chamber’s Director of Government Affairs, at legislative@howardchamber.com; Grace Kubofcik, League co-president 410 465-7515, gracek8@verizon.net and Barbara Schnackenberg, League co-president 410 997-0793, baschnack@verizon.net.

Click here for event flyer.

Howard County Chamber of Commerce’s Position on Slots:

The Chamber believes the lack of electronic gaming in Maryland has resulted in a significant loss of revenue. There are many residents who spend their wagering dollars in neighboring states, income that the State of Maryland clearly needs. The Chamber supports slots that are carefully regulated by the state (to avoid or at least minimize corruption and other abuses) and recognizes that they could be a substantial source of new, non-tax, non-fee revenue for Maryland.

The Chamber’s Board voted in June 2008 to join the For Maryland, For Our Future campaign to support passage of the November slots referendum. This campaign is a coalition of organizations, associations, and other Chambers who support passage of the slots referendum as one of the only options to avoid severe cuts to our State budget and to help prevent future tax increases.

In urging our members to vote in support of this referendum, it is important to know that at least half of the revenue generated by slots are slated to be dedicated to public education. Without the revenue from slots, Maryland is like to face cuts in services and additional tax increases, which traditionally have fallen on the business community. Because of the important of the slots referendum, the Chamber encourages its members to understand the referendum and our position.

For more information on the Slots Referendum:
The text of HB 4: http://mlis.state.md.us/2007s1/bills/hb/hb0004t.pdf and the
fiscal note for HB 4: http://mlis.state.md.us/2007s1/fnotes/bil_0004/hb0004.pdf

The text of SB 3: http://mlis.state.md.us/2007s1/bills/sb/sb0003e.pdf and the
fiscal note of SB 3: http://mlis.state.md.us/2007s1/fnotes/bil_0003/sb0003.pdf

A summary or analysis of the constitutional amendment and implementing legislation can be viewed on pages 21 – 27 of the following document (37 pages long) prepared by the Department of Legislative Services: http://mlis.state.md.us/Other/Fiscal_Briefings_and_Reports/SummaryAdminProposalsAsAmended.pdf

Garin Hart Yang Research Group recently conducted a survey among 803 likely Maryland voters on the topic of the upcoming slots referendum on the November ballot. The results of the survey show that the referendum to allow slot machine gambling is supported by more than three-fifths of voters, and it wins majority support in every major jurisdiction of the State. The survey was conducted from 19 to 21 May, 2008. To read the memorandum with details of the survey and additional findings, click here.