Those who thought the arguing about Maryland’s casinos would end after the state’s voters passed Question 7 — the gambling expansion referendum — were wrong.
What the referendum actually will bring is still anyone’s guess.
As former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once said of the so-called Obamacare healthcare reform act, we pretty much had to pass Question 7 to see what was in it.
There were questions as to how many new jobs the casino expansion would bring to Maryland. Maryland Live!, the state’s largest casino, said it would add 1,200 more people to its existing staff of 1,500.
How all of this will affect operations at Rocky Gap’s planned casino is also up in the air.
There have been requests to extend the hours during which alcohol may be served there. Lakes Entertainment, which holds the slots license at Rocky Gap, has scaled back its original plans.
Our local legislators are also concerned about the loss of conference space at the facility. Some of our local organizations that traditionally have held holiday events at Rocky Gap had to find new locations this year after being told the resort could not accommodate them.
Now, Maryland think tanks are proposing that the state charge the new National Harbor Casino a $500 million license fee instead of the current $18 million.
The casino’s expected revenue of $148 million a year was cited, as was the $50 million spent by casino owner MGM Resorts International in advertising designed to urge voters to support the casino referendum.
That’s half a billion dollars. All things considered, it’s not a bad idea. If nothing else, the money would go a long way to easing Maryland’s budget problems.
The only problem with that idea is that Maryland’s legislators are not much different from those in Washington or most other state capitals.
The more money we give them, the more ways they will find to spend it.
Editorials
Related Photos
-
Big price tag
Big price tag
$500M license fee proposed for new casino
- Editorials
-
-
150th birthday
West Virginians will be in a celebratory mood Thursday when the state’s sesquicentennial is marked in scores of events across the Mountain State.
-
Freedom isn’t exactly what he thinks it is
In the June 2 Times-News, R. Steele Selby (“Just how free are we?) defines freedom as “the capacity to do whatever he or she wants to do” and asserts that this definition is “most likely nearly universal.”
-
What Maryland calls the Fair Share Act isn’t fair at all
The Fair Share Act was passed in 2009. This law allowed for service fees to be part of the collective bargaining process.
The law does not mandate that service fees be negotiated, it simply provides that they can be. -
It’s not new
America’s governments have always afforded us what’s called “a double-edged sword” — one that cuts both ways — when it comes to the contrasting ideas of openness and security.
-
This summer:
You can do your kids a favor this summer by getting them involved in reading.
-
Western Md. Veterans continues its mission
My name is Dan Brashear, I am the founder and director of Western Maryland Veterans.
-
Maybe the cyclists and casino workers should be armed
Again, unfortunately I have to remind Don Carns Jr. of Beans Cove, Pa., on his latest repeatedly inaccurate letter published June 10 in the Cumberland Times-News (“Township is nothing like either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia”).
-
Let’s all kick in $1 to help save Frostburg’s Palace Theatre
As a former resident, I have many fond memories of the Palace Theatre (“Theater wall crumbles: Palace exterior collapses, unfit for entry: officials,” June 6 Times-News, Page 1A).
-
Close call
Thanks to a routine inspection, what could well have been a major disaster has been averted at Westmar Middle School’s football field.
-
Develop the waterway
Since the debate over removing the dam started about four years ago, I have been concerned about the effect the dam removal would have on the area’s welfare.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
