By Joe Slaninka

Special to The Sentinel

Here we go again.

After failing to reach an agreement about the issue of allowing slot machines in the state of Maryland, the Maryland General Assembly elected, in November 2007, to place a referendum about the issue on this year's upcoming ballot on Nov. 4.

The referendum will address a proposal by Gov. Martin O'Malley who said legalizing slots and gambling in Maryland will help close the $1.7 billion budget gap the state is facing. He also said it will help protect horse-related open space, agriculture and jobs in Maryland.

Many say slots will bring unwanted crime to the state. In a report by Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, states that have already legalized gambling have experienced a substantial increase in crime. Mississippi legalized gambling in 1992 and, according to the report, violent crime increased by 64 percent in 10 different categories within two years.

"Slots will defraud the citizens of Maryland," Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal said. "If the referendum passes, we will see increases in crime, corruption, bankruptcy and domestic violence."

O'Malley and supporters of the referendum believe the slots will create thousands of jobs, and help keep Marylanders' money, currently going into slots in surrounding states, in Maryland. According to O'Malley, Marylanders spend approximately $400 million while playing slots in Delaware and West Virginia.

Councilmember Marc Elrich said the state should not be discussing slots, but instead should be talking about more responsible ways to raise revenues such as progressive income taxes, corporate taxes and liquor taxes.

"This bill is not going to produce what it says its is going to produce," Elrich said in a statement Monday, along with fellow Councilmembers Leventhal and Duchy Trachtenberg, and Council Vice President Phil Andrews. "We are asking people to take their hard earned money that belongs in rent, paying for the schools and paying for their children's lunches, and gamble it away to slot parlors. It is not going to work."

Under the framework of O'Malley's plan, the recaptured revenue will be invested in priorities such as public education, school construction and higher education. "The only winners will be the gambling industry," said Elrich. "The state's share [of the revenue] won't close the widening budget gap, let alone provide the badly needed new revenues for schools that are being promised."

Montgomery County Board of Education member Stephen Abrams wants to consider alternatives because slots could cause problems, but he knows they are a possible solution to the budget crisis. "I am not philosophically opposed to slots," said Abrams in a MCPS Board of Education meeting Tuesday. "But this particular proposal essentially forces us to allow one-armed bandits to enter the state of Maryland."

The issue is set to be decided in the voting booths on Election Day on Nov. 4.