Time is running out on the state's plans to build a National Football League stadium in downtown Baltimore, two ranking members of the House of Delegates said yesterday.
"We will have to fish or cut bait sooner or later, and this might be the year to do that," said Del. Howard P. Rawlings, a Baltimore Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "The question then is how to use those funds" set aside to build a football stadium at Camden Yards.
Mr. Rawlings' comments came as his committee heard the first of several proposals this year to raid the money, which is being set aside for a stadium if Baltimore gets an NFL franchise.
Del. John A. Hurson, a Montgomery County Democrat, asked that the panel divert to school construction $19 million of the $32 million raised this year by the state's sports lotteries
The sports lotteries were created in 1987 to finance the construction of baseball and football stadiums at Camden Yards.
The Maryland Stadium Authority uses part of the money to pay off construction loans and sets aside part in a reserve fund that now contains $26 million.
Mr. Hurson, the Democratic majority leader of the 141-member House, said he thinks some or all of the stadium money will be diverted this year for schools or another use.
In particular, he said, the House leadership will tap the stadium money if the legislature rejects Gov. Parris N. Glendening's plan to use $60 million from the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund's reserve to build schools and for other capital projects.
"I think there is a general understanding in the House of Delegates that the [stadium money] is really something that is in play," Mr. Hurson said.
If the House does tap into the stadium reserve fund, it could find stiff opposition in the Senate, said Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, a Baltimore Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
"My concern is that we haven't fully played out the string, that if we are lucky enough, or skilled enough, to get an NFL football team interested, we would have shot ourselves in the foot if we touch that money," she said. "So I'm not inclined to touch that money this year."
Bruce H. Hoffman, executive director of the Maryland Stadium ++ Authority, said Mr. Hurson's bill could damage the city's main drawing card to attract an NFL franchise by raising questions about the state's commitment to building a stadium.
"It essentially does deauthorize" the NFL stadium, Mr. Hoffman said. "It takes us out of the game."
Del. Richard N. Dixon, a Carroll County Democrat, cautioned his colleagues that diverting revenues from the Stadium Authority could undermine the bond market's confidence in the state.
"If we start grabbing that money for this purpose or that purpose, what message would we be sending to the people who already hold [baseball] stadium bonds?" Mr. Dixon said.
While some proposals on the table would scuttle the stadium plans entirely, Mr. Hurson described his plan, House Bill 243, as a "middle-of-the-road approach."
The bill calls for a one-time diversion of money, slightly more than half of the $32 million the state estimates it will raise through its sports lotteries.
Delegate Rawlings, however, said if the state does tap the money, it should remain in Baltimore.
The stadium money "was intended for major economic development in Baltimore," he said. "If we take the money, it ought to be consistent with that objective."