Washington Post: Gambling’s ‘Unholy’ Grip in the State of Maryland

First it was the US Attorney’s Office in Maryland setting up a phony payment solutions company then spending the nearly two years worth of seized funds on brand new police cars for Anne Arundel County, now state politicians have come under fire for allegedly holding “spending hostage to the gaming industry’s interests”, claims the Washington Post.

The Editorial board of the Washington Post had this to say on Thursday:

CASINO GAMBLING was the cart driving the horse in Annapolis in recent weeks. In the closing hours of the Maryland legislature’s session, the cart went on a joy ride and overturned, leaving the capital torn by recriminations and the state in disarray. Such is the outsize influence that gambling has come to exert in Maryland politics, particularly in the state Senate under President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr.’s leadership.

The Post noted that everything was going smoothly until “Mr. Miller’s pet project — expanding the state’s gambling program to authorize a sixth casino, in Prince George’s County, plus table games at existing ones — ran into opposition in the House of Delegates”.

Rather than let the gambling bill go down in flames, Mr. Miller let the clock run out.  The legislature adjourned with no gambling bill, no income tax increases — and with a “doomsday” budget no one wanted.

Lawmakers have gone home, but the jockeying is likely to continue over gambling, spending and taxes until a deal looks doable, at which point Mr. O’Malley will probably call the legislature back for a special session.

As for the governor, the Post asserts that he “did nothing to interfere with the unholy interplay of gambling and politics that sabotaged the budget process”.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com