In a legislative land rush, gaming companies are staking out territory in Annapolis in hopes of legalizing casino gambling during the 1995 Maryland General Assembly.
With a new governor and legislature looking for ways to raise revenues without raising taxes, gambling interests believe the time is right for casinos in the state. In the past six weeks, the gambling giant Harrah's and a mid-sized Lake Tahoe, Nev., casino company have hired two of the state's top lobbyists to represent them when the legislative session opens Jan. 11.
Although no bills have been filed yet, lawmakers and lobbyists expect a variety of proposals as the General Assembly takes its first serious look at the issue.
"It's my understanding just from kind of informal conversations here and there that they are going to propose just about every type of gambling possible in this session," said Gov.-elect Parris N. Glendening.
"Any lobbyist who can find his or her way to Annapolis will get hired," said lobbyist Gerard E. Evans. Harveys Casino Resorts, which owns Lake Tahoe's largest casino, hired Mr. Evans' firm in late October.
Gaming companies say they are interested in opening hotel casinos as well as those on riverboats and barges with the usual array of games, including craps, roulette, blackjack, poker, slot machines and baccarat. Potential sites include the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River and Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
Top state officials say they want to move slowly on the issue. Public commissions have been established in both Baltimore and Annapolis to study the potential economic impact. Hardly anyone around the State House expects a bill to pass this year.
"I think it will be a very high-profile issue that we're probably going to be dealing with for several sessions," said Casper R. Taylor Jr., speaker of the House of Delegates. Lobbyist Edward O. Wayson Jr., whose family runs legal bingo games in Anne Arundel County, said he thinks it will take two years to pass a casino bill, with much of the coming session devoted to educating lawmakers on the issue.
The political push in Annapolis follows a national trend in which eight states -- Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, South Dakota and Colorado -- have approved casinos in the last six years. Indian casino operations have also opened in 12 other states since 1988.
Loath to raise taxes and struggling to keep up with rising costs, lawmakers have turned to casinos as an added source of tax revenue. In recent years, the industry has also improved its image by marketing casinos as family resorts with amusement park rides and even wild animal exhibits.
Behind the drive for casinos here also lies the fear that neighboring states will approve them first and siphon off local dollars.
Ramsey Poston, editor of Casinews, a newsletter that follows the legislative politics of casino gambling, said both Virginia and West Virginia are ahead of Maryland on the issue and could approve riverboat gambling next year. Pennsylvania will consider similar bill in 1995. Casino companies also view cash-strapped Washington, D.C., and its tourist market as a potential gold mine.
So far, Maryland's political leaders have not taken a firm position on the issue.
"I don't think we should be trying to solve serious financial problems of the state by forever expanding gambling," Mr. Glendening said. "On the other hand, I am a realist about what's going on all around us. And if every other state, for example, has alternatives that are not available in Maryland, Maryland funds will simply be drained out of the state."
Mr. Glendening said he wants local, legislative and business leaders to develop a coherent policy over the next year with the hope of making some kind of decision during the 1996 Assembly.
State Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said he shares Mr. Glendening's concern, but he, too, is open to the idea. "I'm not adverse to some limited form of riverboat gambling, for example," he said. "If regulated properly, it could be a money-maker for the state as well as a tourist attraction."
States typically tax 12 percent to 20 percent of casinos' gross revenues, Mr. Poston said. Last year, Illinois brought in more than $100 million from its 10 casinos. But economic revitalization through the arm of a slot machine is not a sure bet.
Critics point to Atlantic City's perpetual blight. In Mississippi, casinos have created at least 35,000 jobs since they arrived two years ago, but state officials say many have been filled by newcomers who know how to deal blackjack. Competition among the state's 32 floating casinos has been fierce. In August, one shut down and another filed for bankruptcy protection. Others are trying to stay open through layoffs.
Last month in Florida, opponents helped defeat a referendum by arguing that casinos would only cannibalize existing disposable income.
Legalized gambling would not be new in Maryland. The state already has a wide array of games, including slot machines on the Eastern Shore, tip jars in Western Maryland and casino nights in Prince George's County. Whether legislators are willing to take the next step, though, no one knows for sure.
A diverse group of opponents, including the horse-racing industry and the Catholic Church, are already poised for a fight. Joseph A. DeFrancis, owner of the Laurel and Pimlico racetracks, explains his opposition with this simple maxim: "When casino gaming comes in competition with horse racing, horse racing is destroyed."
The Maryland Catholic Conference opposes casinos because they prey on the poor, encourage crime and make for bad fiscal policy, said executive director Dick Dowling. The conference includes three dioceses that cover Maryland -- Baltimore, Washington and Wilmington, Del.