"AG Advises Gambling Law Could Go to Voting Booth Referendum...," The Daily Record, November 17, 1995

The Daily Record (Baltimore, MD.) November 17, 1995, Friday

November 17, 1995, Friday
SECTION: Pg. 11
HEADLINE: AG Advises Gambling Law Could Go to Voting Booth Referendum Would Require Measure to Take Form of Constitutional Amendment Or Have State Forego Taxing Casino Proceeds in First Draft
BYLINE: By Catherine Brennan; Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran -- an outspoken foe of casino gambling -- issued an opinion yesterday that legalization of commercial gambling in Maryland could be subject to popular referendum.

He cautioned, though, that legislation structured to tax commercial gambling in order to raise money for public purposes -- like House Bill 995 introduced last March, which would give gambling proceeds to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene -- could probably not be put to a referendum vote.

Curran also indicated that the Maryland Constitution prohibits conditioning any state or local legislation that authorizes, regulates and taxes commercial gambling on referendum. Legislation that authorizes gambling -- without creating revenue-raising regulations -- could have its effectiveness in a specific jurisdiction conditioned on local laws.

The opinion -- prepared at the request of Joseph Tydings, chair of the Joint Executive-Legislative Task Force to Study Commercial Gaming Activities in Maryland -- indicates that local municipalities could retain power over how gambling is implemented if the General Assembly chooses only to authorize commercial gambling instead of regulate and tax it at the state level.

Earlier this week, the Tydings Commission announced its opposition to the legalization of casinos in Maryland, an issue that is expected to be re-introduced during the the upcoming legislative session.

Several national companies are interested in building casinos in Maryland and plan to push for legislation that would remove the current ban.

"I don't believe that the casino issue has gone away," said Tom Shaner, a spokesman for the Maryland Gaming Association, a coalition representing nearly a dozen gaming enterprises. "I do believe it would be very difficult to pass casino legislation in Maryland this year."

Although, as Shaner stated, the pro-casino movement lost considerable steam when the Tydings Commission came out against the idea, the Attorney General's opinion clears up issues raised during the course of the commission's research.

During the 1995 legislative session, five bills related to casino gambling were introduced, which ultimately led to the creation of the Tydings Commission. But this session was expected to be the one in which the well-funded casino interests would push the legislation through, despite a groundswell of opposition from organizations like Marylanders Against Casinos and the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.

Bernie Horn, an Annapolis-based field coordinator for the national opposition movement, has said all along that the citizenry would decide the issue one way or another.

In addition to a referendum to overturn any type of casino gambling legislation, Horn said "the legislators will see that the way they vote on casinos will decide the next election."

The Maryland Constitution generally permits voters to petition for referendum on most enactments of the General Assembly. Expressly prohibited as a subject for referendum is law "'making any appropriation for maintaining the State Government."

In the Attorney General's opinion, commercial gambling legislation that goes beyond mere authorization would be exempt from referendum by petition.

"Whatever one might say about the effects of such a bill as a whole, in the short run it would be a revenue-raiser, and the objects of the tax -- promotion of public health and aid to local governments -- are public purposes that would be considered as 'maintaining the State Government'," the Attorney General wrote.

If commercial gambling is to become subject to referendum, the General Assembly could enact "a regulatory/licensing bill without any revenue-raising or appropriation component," wrote Curran, to be followed by a "revenue-raising/appropriation bill" if the voters approve commercial gambling.

Because commercial gambling raises a "significant State interest," Curran said that operation of a statewide law enacting a scheme for regulation and licensing for commercial gambling could not be made contingent on local referendums.

However, "mandating that the effectiveness of commercial gambling legislation within a particular jurisdiction hinges on the enactment of a local ordinance" would probably be permitted.

In finding that commercial gambling could be made subject to the referendum process with some limitations, Curran emphasized his office's position that gambling would have "a dire effect on the crime rate."

Daily Record Business Writer Jeff Benjamin contributed to this story.