SCANNED DOC: Lt. Gov. Michael Steele & Former GOP Chair Audrey Scott Endorse Maryland Gambling Effort (Question 7)

Yesterday, a Maryland Juice reader in Montgomery County received the direct mail letter below. The message comes from two prominent Republicans, former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and former Maryland GOP Chair Audrey Scott. The letter claims credit for gambling in Maryland as a Republican effort: "Ten years ago, when gaming (slots) was first introduced to the State Capital by Governor Bob Ehrlich, we were enthusiastic supporters, as were most Republicans."

The "vote for" Question 7 endorsement from the Republicans comes on the heels of support from magician David Copperfield and boxer Oscar De La Hoya. Read the full letter below:

DIRECT MAIL: Lt. Gov. Michael Steele & Audrey Scott Endorse Gambling Expansion

TODAY'S MAIL: Gambling Expansion Supporters Argue Question 7 Protects Maryland's School Funding

MORE DIRECT MAIL ABOUT MARYLAND GAMBLING EXPANSION

A Maryland Juice reader forwarded us the latest direct mail piece in the state's casino wars. The mail piece below was received by a Montgomery County Democrat, and it argues that Maryland's gambling expansion plan (Question 7) protects school funding.

This defensive advertisement from Question 7 supporters is clearly intended to rebut recent arguments from gambling opponents that there are loopholes allowing casino revenues to be shifted away from schools.

You can see the new "vote for" Question 7 mail piece below, and a copy of the last "vote against" 7 piece at right.

Note that I live in Montgomery County, and my house only received the "vote against" piece.

Direct Mail from "Vote For" Question 7 Campaign - 10/16/12

DIRECT MAIL: Gambling Expansion Advocates Argue Thousands of New Jobs Will Come With a "Vote For" Question 7

A new direct mail piece has arrived at my house from the pro-gambling expansion side. The multi-page mailer argues that Marylanders should "vote for" Question 7 in order to (surprise, surprise) create new jobs:
Direct Mail: Vote for 7 Ad Uses Jobs Angle to Push Gambling Expansion in Maryland

DIRECT MAIL: Two Mail Pieces Arrive on Same Day Urging "Vote Against" Gambling Expansion // READ ONLINE

If you live in Maryland, you are surely noticing the barrage of gambling related advertising hitting the airwaves and mailboxes. Yesterday, Maryland Juice received two direct mail pieces arguing for a "vote against" Question 7 (gambling expansion). See the mailers below:
DIRECT MAIL: Vote No on Question 7 - "Unemployed"

DIRECT MAIL: Vote No on Question 7 - "Loophole"

Slot Machines in College Park, Easton & Frederick? // New Gambling Law Puts Neighborhood Slots at Veterans Halls

DOUBLE-UPDATE: Delegate Doyle Neimann of Prince George's County has provided Maryland Juice with a rebuttal of some of the points raised below by Fred Nordham and Delegate Eric Luedtke.

UPDATE: A few knowledgeable readers have sent in clarifications about the workings of the veterans hall slot machines. The added details may remove a few worries about the new law. First, the veterans halls with slot machines are not exactly open to the public. VFW and American Legion members and their guests can gamble at the facilities, but they do not appear to be open to non-members. It is unclear whether this is stipulated in Maryland's new gambling law, or whether this is simply a fact of how the veterans halls are organized. Additionally, the slot machines in the veterans halls will look like slot machines, but the technology for them is a bit different.

Below you can see the clarifications Maryland Juice received from Delegate Eric Luedtke (District 14 Democrat) and Fred Nordhorn from the Prince George's County Commission for Veterans:

DELEGATE ERIC LUEDTKE: Slot machines have been authorized in veterans halls in most eastern shore counties (including Talbot Co., which includes Easton) for about 20 years, so your mentioning Easton in the title of your post is probably not on target. Most people don't know that, largely because these foreign legion and VFW posts are members-only, therefore not open to the general public, therefore not 'neighborhood slots parlors'.

Maryland Gambling Expansion Heading to November Ballot // ROLL CALL: House Barely Approves Table Games & PG Casino

PLUS: SEE HOUSE ROLL CALL INFO & ANOTHER GAMBLING MAILER BELOW

Local political reporters are all highlighting the results of Maryland's second special legislative session in 2012. After weeks of heated debate, the Maryland House of Delegates approved the gambling expansion plan -- with no votes to spare. Gambling proponents needed 71 votes in the House to pass gambling, and they received exactly 71 votes. The State Senate already approved the gambling expansion plan on Friday, so about an hour ago, Gov. Martin O'Malley signed the casino referendum bill. That means that gambling is heading to the November ballot alongside marriage equality, the Dream Act, and Maryland's Congressional redistricting plan.

SENATE PRESIDENT MIKE MILLER NOW CLAIMS GAMBLING "NOT THE WAY" TO FUND GOVERNMENT - Below is a quick round-up of local news coverage about the Maryland House's approval of the gambling bill. Amazingly, Senate President Mike Miller -- who is directly responsible for the casino push in Maryland -- is now saying gambling is "not the way" to fund government! See an excerpt from the Maryland Reporter special session coverage below:

MARYLAND REPORTER: By the bare minimum of 71 votes, the House of Delegates Monday night gave Senate President Mike Miller the kind of “sine die” adjournment he had expected April 9: The delegates passed a bill asking voters in November to approve table games and a sixth gambling casino in Prince George’s County....

A subdued Miller, believed by most legislators to have bullied O’Malley and Busch back into session, refused to gloat or take a victory lap after the Senate concurred in the House amendments and passed the bill 32-14....

“It’s a fad, it’s a fancy, it’s wrong, it’s not the way to fund government,” Miller told reporters. But Maryland needed to take full advantage of the gambling craze while it lasted....

KEY PROVISIONS OF GAMBLING BILL: Lastly, The Baltimore Sun had a very quick roundup of the key provisions in the newly approved casino referendum. The most important changes are the addition of a Prince George's gambling site, tax cuts for slot machine operators, and the addition of Vegas-style table games to Maryland casinos (eg: craps, blackjack, roulette, etc).

HOUSE OF DELEGATES GAMBLING ROLL CALL VOTE - The Baltimore Sun printed the roll call for the Maryland House gambling vote today. You can see the full roster at their site, but we highlight the Democratic "NO" votes below:

DEMOCRATS WHO VOTED "NO" ON HOUSE GAMBLING BILL:

1. Alston, Tiffany T. (D) Prince George's
2. Barkley, Charles E. (D) Montgomery
3. Beidle, Pamela G. (D) Anne Arundel
4. Carter, Jill P. (D) Baltimore
5. Gilchrist, James W. (D) Montgomery
6. Griffith, Melony G. (D) Prince George's
7. Hammen, Peter A. (D) Baltimore
8. Holmes, Marvin E., Jr. (D) Prince George's
9. James, Mary-Dulany (D) Harford
10. Kelly, Ariana B. (D) Montgomery
11. Lee, Susan C. (D) Montgomery
12. Miller, Aruna (D) Montgomery
13. Mizeur, Heather R. (D) Montgomery
14. Morhaim, Dan K. (D) Baltimore Co.
15. Murphy, Peter F. (D) Charles
16. Niemann, Doyle L. (D) Pr. George's
17. Pena-Melnyk, Joseline A. (D) Prince George's
18. Robinson, A. Shane (D) Montgomery
19. Simmons, Luiz R. S. (D) Montgomery
20. Sophocleus, Theodore J. (D) Anne Arundel
21. Vaughn, Michael L. (D) Prince George's
22. Wood, John F., Jr. (D) St. Mary's

DIRECT MAIL & MEDIA WAR BREWING? - Given how much money was spent by groups on the public relations battle surrounding gambling, we could see a decent amount of paid propaganda in Maryland. In the closing days of the special session fight, a reader sent us the following direct mail piece that a group called CSOA sent to Maryland voters. They added the following comments about the origin of the mailer:

ANONYMOUS READER: A little late, so I don't know if you're still interested in it but here's the gambling mailer I got Monday.  The most interesting/weirdest thing about it (to me) is that it's from a group called CSOA but it doesn't say what that stands for. If you google CSOA Maryland, a race horse owner's group comes up... I guess they're mad that gambling is coming to National Harbor but not Rosecroft. Also, it seems to be targeted towards PG residents and I live in Howard county?

CSOA Maryland Gambling Direct Mail

PS - PIT BULL LEGISLATION DIED IN SPECIAL SESSION - One other piece of legislation was dealt with in the special session. Pit bull owners were rallying to stop a Maryland Court of Appeals decision that pit bulls are inherently dangerous. The Patch's Bryan Sears noted (excerpt below):

TOWSON PATCH: ... a bill meant to overturn a controversial Court of Appeals ruling that declared pit bulls an inherently dangerous dog breed failed after Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said the House gave senators a "take it or leave it" ultimatum.

MORE ON THE MARYLAND GAMBLING REFERENDUM SOON!

ROLL CALL: Maryland House Ways & Means Committee Approves Casino Expansion // See How 2014 Candidates Voted

After the Maryland Senate approved a gambling expansion plan last week (see roll call at the bottom of this page), debate proceeded in the House of Delegates. According to an AP report on WBAL, yesterday the House Ways & Means committee approved an amended version of the bill to bring table games to Maryland and a new casino to Prince George's County. The House bill passed 13-7 and included expanded slot machine tax cuts for Anne Arundel and Baltimore casino owners upset at the potential new competition in Maryland.

Check out the AP's special session coverage at WBAL. They provided a House Ways & Means roll call, which we provide below, but we've made a note next to the names of some Delegates who are considering runs for statewide office in 2014.

MARYLAND HOUSE WAYS & MEANS GAMBLING VOTE ROLL CALL

Voting Yes
Sandy Rosenberg (D)
Kumar Barve (D) - POTENTIAL 2014 COMPTROLLER CANDIDATE
Talmadge Branch (D)
William Frick (D) - POTENTIAL 2014 ATTORNEY GENERAL CANDIDATE
 Carolyn Howard (D)
Jolene Ivey (D)
Anne Kaiser (D)
Eric Luedtke (D)
Justin Ross (D)
Melvin Stukes (D)
Michael Summers (D)
Frank Turner (D)
Jay Walker (D)

Voting No
Kathy Afzali (R)
Joe Boteler (R)
Mark Fisher (R)
Ron George (R)
Glen Glass (R)
Aruna Miller (D)
Andrew Serafini (R)

Not Voting
Jon Cardin (D) - POTENTIAL 2014 ATTORNEY GENERAL CANDIDATE
LeRoy Myers (R)
Sheila Hixson-Chairman (D)


The Maryland Senate has updated its website to include the full roll call vote on the gambling expansion bill:

FULL MARYLAND SENATE GAMBLING ROLL CALL VOTE

28 Yeas     14 Nays     2 Not Voting     0 Excused (Absent)     3 Absent

Voting Yea - 28

Mr. President

Getty

McFadden

Benson

Jennings

Middleton

Brinkley

Jones-Rodwell

Peters

Colburn

Kasemeyer

Pugh

Conway J

King

Robey

Currie

Klausmeier

Rosapepe

Edwards

Madaleno

Stone

Ferguson

Manno

Young

Forehand

Mathias

Zirkin

Garagiola

Voting Nay - 14

Brochin

Jacobs

Pipkin

DeGrange

Kittleman

Raskin

Dyson

Montgomery

Reilly

Frosh

Muse

Simonaire

Glassman

Pinsky

Not Voting - 2

Astle

Ramirez

Excused from Voting - 0

Excused (Absent) - 3

Gladden

Kelley

Shank

ROLL CALL: Maryland Senate Approves Gambling Referendum 28-14 // PLUS: Full Scan of Gay & Lesbian Anti-Gambling Mailer

JUICE #1 - SENATE APPROVES GAMBLING WITH 28-14 VOTE: Early last night, Maryland Juice received word (from Twitter) that a majority of the State Senate voted to approve a November referendum on gambling:

ROLL CALL DETAILS: The measure will head to the House of Delegates next week, where the outcome is far less certain than in the upper chamber, where Senate President Mike Miller has made gaming a legislative priority. The Washington Post's John Wagner published the roll call for how Maryland Senators voted. Though the vote was by no means a party-line battle, most of the "yes" votes came from Democrats. We highlight the "no" votes below, but check out The Washington Post article to see the full roster.

DEMOCRATIC VOTES AGAINST GAMBLING

1. Jim Brochin
2. Ed DeGrange
3. Roy Dyson
4. Brian Frosh
5. Karen Montgomery
6. Anthony Muse
7. Paul Pinsky
8. Jamie Raskin

REPUBLICAN VOTES AGAINST GAMBLING

1. Barry Glassman
2. Nancy Jacobs
3. Allan Kittleman
4. E.J. Pipkin
5. Ed Reilly
6. Bryan Simonaire

OTHER (ie: NO VOTE RECORDED)

1. John Astle
2. Lisa Gladden
3. Delores Kelley
4. Victor Ramirez
5. Chris Shank

JUICE #2 - FULL SCAN OF LGBT ANTI-GAMBLING MAILER: Meanwhile, yesterday Maryland Juice published news of a direct mail piece opposing the gambling effort, that was being mailed by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Action Fund. We only had a partial scan of the piece to look at, but it turns out Maryland Juice received a copy of the mail piece at our new Silver Spring/Takoma Park war room. Maryland Juice also receives word that the piece was mailed as far as the Eastern Shore. We provide a full scan of the anti-gambling mail piece below, along with the following intriguing commentary from BuzzFeed, the blog that broke the story (excerpt below):

BUZZFEED: The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force structured an anti-gambling campaign in Maryland so it wouldn't have to disclose which donors are underwriting the effort.

The group established an independent expenditure committee this week, rather than a standard political action committee, to fund its mailer opposing an effort to put a measure for expanded gambling on the ballot this fall....

See a full scan of the direct mail piece below:

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's Maryland Anti-Gambling Mailer

Gov. Martin O'Malley Releases Casino Expansion Bill for Special Session // SURPRISE: Tax Cuts for Casinos & 24 Hr. Gambling?

UPDATE: Read Gov. O'Malley's special gambling session FAQ below.

Before the start of tomorrow's special session of the legislature, Gov. Martin O'Malley has released a draft bill to expand gambling in Maryland. The legislation (available below) contains a mish-mosh of gambling policy changes to be voted on by the public in this November's Presidential Election.

TAX CUTS FOR CASINO OWNERS?  - While lawmakers were awaiting a decision from O'Malley on whether they would be called back to Annapolis a third time this year, they were bombarded with direct mail and phone calls asking them to reject tax cuts for casino operators. Numerous legislators reported receiving calls and emails from constituents calling on them to reject the gambling expansion plans. Current law taxes slot machine owners at 67%, but the draft legislation below does indeed call for casino owner tax cuts ranging from 6% to 10%. One justification for the gambling tax cuts is that the bill also requires slot operators to now buy their own machines. Maryland currently acquires the slot machines used in the state, but the proposed November referendum would transfer that duty to casino owners. Notably, casino mega-corporation MGM plans to operate a casino at Prince George's County's National Harbor site, but in recent days indicated it would move forward with the new mega-casino even without the slot machine tax cuts.

PRINCE GEORGE'S RESIDENTS PLAN PROTEST AGAINST GAMBLING SESSION: The Washington Post's John Wagner flagged a couple of other key items in the draft legislation, such as a provision allowing casinos to stay open 24 hours. Wagner also notes the timing of the proposed gambling expansion would bring table games to Maryland next year, with a Prince George's casino opening in 2016.

Meanwhile, Prince George's residents, who are concerned about a number of impacts to their communities, are planning to bus protesters to Annapolis to oppose the special gambling session tomorrow. The Real Prince George's blog today printed the following announcement (excerpt below):

REAL PRINCE GEORGE'S BLOG: On Thursday, August 9th 2012, as a host of organizations and concerned citizens will converge on the State House in Annapolis at the Lawyer’s Mall for a Rally and Press Conference at 11:00am....

1.     Governor O’Malley and the Assembly are attempting to rush through    a proposal for a new casino in just two to three days of debate.

2.     The Governor and Assembly are proposing to create a commission of unelected individuals to determine casino tax rates, possibly bailing them out on the backs of working families.

This is not a good deal for Prince George’s County and we don’t want it!....

See Gov. O'Malley's gambling session FAQ below:
Governor Martin O'Malley's Special Gambling Session FAQ

See a draft of the special session gambling expansion proposal below:
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's Special Session Gambling Legislation - 8/8/12

BREAKING: Maryland Democratic Leaders Reach Tentative Gambling Deal // August 8th Proposed for Special Session?

UPDATE: An anonymous legislator has indicated to Maryland Juice that they have been asked to clear the week of August 9-14. Additionally, news outlets are reporting that House Speaker Mike Busch is expecting Gov. O'Malley to call for a special session (see ie: Washington Examiner & Baltimore Sun).

GAMBLING SESSION FORTHCOMING: Maryland Juice is confirming that the State's Democratic leadership appears to have a struck a deal for a special gambling session. Governor Martin O'Malley, House Speaker Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller will likely imminently announce that around August 8th they will call Senators and Delegates back to Annapolis to try and place a gambling referendum on the ballot this November. I am receiving cautionary notes that the fragile deal could fall apart, so take these details with a grain of salt. But so far, it looks like things are moving forward. Sources indicate several issues are expected to be addressed in the new gambling push: