Here in Maryland, we as voters are facing several big votes on November 6th that are sure to shape the direction of this state for years to come. Notable measures we will see on the ballot include a measure to fix the awful congressional district lines that Martin O'Malley and the Democrat-controlled Maryland General Assembly drew after the last census (more on that in another post next week), Question 6 on "Marriage Equality", the DREAM Act and Question 7, which would allow Maryland to add a 6th casino site along National Harbor in Prince George's County. Question 7 might sound really good on paper, it might sound like Gov. O'Malley actually cares about the students in this state. But in reality, Question 7 won't do anything for students in this state and the measure creates inherent math problems that the Democrats in the General Assembly seem to be completely ignorant of.
First, supporters of Question 7 claim that a new casino in Prince George's County would add "hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue" for the state. Here's the problem with that: Democrats assume that when a new casino opens on the National Harbor, that all of the sudden people who have never gambled before will just start gambling out of the blue. This is not the case! When Hollywood Casino in Perryville opened in September 2010, it brought in millions in revenue because it was the only casino open in the state. This Hollywood Casino location has been followed by the opening of a casino at Ocean Downs in Berlin, Maryland and, in June 2012, the opening of Maryland Live at Arundel Mills Mall. All the while, Democrats assumed gambling revenue would somehow infinitely expand. Summer 2012 provided a harsh reality check to that. Hollywood Casino in Perryville has seen its revenues slumping drastically, so much so that now the location wants to return as many as one-third of its slot machines to the state.
The true fact of the matter is that opening a new casino on the National Harbor won't add millions in new revenue. All it will do is take the revenue provided by people who currently gamble in Maryland and dilute it even further among the four casino locations. People do not just start gambling because a new casino opens. If a casino opens in Prince George's County, people who live there will now just gamble there instead of driving to Perryville or to Arundel Mills as they have been. If there is any additional revenue, it will not be significant.
And then today in The Diamondback here at University of Maryland, we saw what Rush Limbaugh would call "a random act of journalism" about Question 7, the link for which I will provide below. In the article, Senior Staff Writer Jim Bach outlines what the anti-Question 7 commercials have been saying all along, that Question 7 really won't fund Maryland schools.
Sean Johnson, part of political and legislative affairs for the Maryland State Education Association (MESA) said in the article that the $200 million slot machines have generated so far just offset monies in the general fund that are then used for other projects. The net effect, he said, is that schools don't see any increased funding.
State Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, also forcefully condemned gambling in Maryland, saying, "It's a sad exercise to watch Democrats in Maryland approve gambling, which everyone knows is a regressive tax."
Question 7 won't help Maryland schools, we won't see millions of dollars in extra revenue. And, by the way, Martin O'Malley already jacked up taxes on thousands of families in this state in May, so supporters of the measure lied about that, too. Question 7 might not increase taxes, but Democrats took care of the tax increase anyway. Now we can only hope enough voters realize Question 7 is worthless, that it only sounds good but in reality does no good for Maryland.
Diamondback article: http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/campus/article_712f5694-014e-11e2-b881-001a4bcf6878.html
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