Del. Cluster: Question 7 on the November Ballot (Gambling)
Question 7, Gambling.
I have recently been contacted by numerous constituents over the past several weeks about my views on question 7, the Gambling question on the ballot in November. I have told many of you that I will be voting against this question for a variety of reasons and I thought I would share these reasons with the rest of my constituents.
The first reason I am voting no on question 7 is that a couple of months ago we were called into special session so the Democratic leadership could raise taxes on the working class of Maryland and we constantly hear our Governor rail on the Republicans for wanting to give the rich a tax break. Well this bill does just that. It reduces the tax on Casino owners from the current 67% down to as low as 51%, giving these owners a tax break after asking our citizens to pay higher taxes.
The next reason for voting against this question is that in Maryland our small business owners have to pay a personal property tax on all equipment they own in their businesses, sometime reaching thousands of dollars yearly. Well this casino question specifically eliminates this personal property tax on all casino operators. This tax is somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 per machine costing this state hundreds of thousands of revenue each and every year. If it is good for the casinos why is it not good for every business owner of Maryland?
Another reason I am voting no is that buried in this piece of legislation there is a provision that the owners of the new casino at National Harbor can ask for the state to reimburse them up to $300 million in road repairs that are needed to open this casino. The other casinos did not receive this luxury. They have either paid for the repairs by themselves or the counties they are in have helped out, neither of which can ask for reimbursement.
The final reason for voting no on question 7 is the process by which this bill was passed in the special session. The vote buying that occurred during the session was embarrassing for me to watch. Delegates were selling their votes for their own special needs and not looking out for the citizens of Maryland. I can say that without a doubt this was the worst display of politics that I have ever witnessed in Annapolis and I urge all Marylanders to vote no on question 7.
Delegate John Cluster
8th Legislative District
Baltimore County
Gomer Pyle
8:41 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I'l be voting no.
Donald Bollhorst
10:17 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
West Virginia (Charleston Hollywood Casino) will be very happy if
you vote NO. They love Maryland and DC dollars. Don't make this mistake!
Delegates in Annapolis are always looking out for their own special needs.
L Brown
8:52 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Do you really think that the people up in Western Maryland are going to quit going to W VA to gamble and travel farther to National Harbor? The gambling dollars that would go to National Harbor are probably just dollars being split off from the Live! Casino at Arundel Mills. If you really want to get the Western Maryland dollars then push for a casino to be built in Western Maryland.
Other Tim
9:09 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Last I heard this is happening. State of Maryland sold Rocky Gap Resort to a casino developer.
Tim
11:24 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I agree with Del. Cluster here.
I can't believe how bad O'Malley has screwed this up. No, actually, I can.
Maryland, in my view, is in the position of power here - not the casinos. There aren't that many folks who will leave the state to gamble at casinos...and those that do, would gamble much more if they could do so locally.
This law as constituted reeks of the type of behavior we, the people, shouldn't support - party regardless.
Marlene Geety
3:50 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The casino will be at National Harbor but within 10-20 minutes from DC and Virginia and that is where the jobs will come from. Charleston has nothing on the new casino in Anne Arundel County. We do not need another casino. We will be oversaturating the market.
Other Tim
5:31 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
If McDonalds had one restaurant in the Baltimore area, the franchisee of that location would make a boatload of money, but McDonalds Corporation would not. McDonalds has over 100 restaurants in the Baltimore area. The franchisees of those restaurants do not make anywhere near as much money, but McDonalds Corporation makes a boatload of money.
Same thing with the casinos. Five casinos, the casino operators do okay, and so does the state. Lots more casinos, the casino operators suffer, but the state makes much more money.
And 5 years from now, the Democrats who run this state will still be crying that there is not enough revenue to cover expenses.
Harrison
8:19 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The jobs will come from table games in addition to the new casino. Have any of you considering voting no thought about how fifty slot machines only require one technician to maintain, but just one craps table needs two dealers, a stickman, a box supervisor and a pit boss, all across three shifts?
Multiply that across a dozen tables, plus dealers for blackjack, other card games, and POKER (which our own Michael Phelps has to shamefully travel out of state to enjoy) and the benefits to Maryland across the board are obvious. Voting Yes on 7 is voting for an investment in our state. What we lose in outbound tolls to Delaware and WV we'll get back thousands of times over in revenue.
Jason Whitekettle
4:10 pm on Thursday, October 4, 2012
Harrison, the issue is not about the jobs that it will create, the issue is about the simple fact that the tax burden will shift even more unbearably to the middle class in the state of Maryland. If the question were to simply state "allow 1 more casino to be built and allow table games to be placed in the casino's, then I would happily vote yes to this question.
My ultimate concern is in the reduction of the tax rate for the casino owners and the elimination of the personal property tax from the casinos as well.
These two barrels of pork reduce the tax revenue of the state and place the financial burden more squarely on the shoulders of the small business owners and the ever dwindling middle class. Your statement about the benefits to Maryland across the board being obvious is a blatant fallacy and deserves more in depth research before jumping on the wagon wearing blinders to the full spectrum of how truly devastating this would be to the state's economy.
Jamesbond58
7:52 pm on Sunday, October 7, 2012
I am voting "No" for all the above reasons and more. Our governor socks it to the individual and small business owner but big breaks go to the casinos. Building more casinos does not create more gamblers. After the initial novelty wears off in about 6 months the casinos are mostly left with the hard core gamblers. Plus putting it downtown Baltimore will encourage those that can least afford it easy access in the hope of get rich quick. Look at Atlantic City, the city is floundering and they have had casinos for over 30 years. You would think the city would be flush with money and beautiful with all sorts of improvements. It NEVER happened there and won't happen here either. Don't be deluded by the casino operators. I wouldn't trust them to for a second.
Parkvillehoney
7:59 pm on Sunday, October 7, 2012
Went to Maryland Live at Arundel Mills this past Friday. What a let down. Too crowded and not a good experience. This place doesn't compete with Charlestown or Dover Downs for an excellent gambling experience. Will not be returning to Maryland Live.