Posted on Sat, Oct. 11, 2008
In November, Maryland residents will get to do something Pennsylvanians were denied: vote for or against the legalization of slot-machine casinos.
Whether or not the slots measure passes in the Free State isn't the point here. The big difference is that the democratic process is working in Maryland, unlike how events transpired in Pennsylvania.
Last November, Maryland lawmakers called for the slots referendum. That gave opponents and backers of slots a year to make their case to the public. In turn, voters will have had time to contemplate the benefits and drawbacks of such a major statewide policy change. Voters will go to the polls well-informed.
"We're giving people the right to choose," one Maryland lawmaker said when the referendum was approved. Another said: "It's hard to philosophically justify not letting people decide on this issue."
So far, the debate has been healthy and transparent. There was even a court challenge over the wording of the referendum.
A three-judge panel ordered that the language be changed to say the "primary" purpose of the revenue raised from slots would be to fund education - to make clear that just a third of the money would go to private gambling interests.
The open process in Maryland is refreshing and stands in stark contrast to how events played out in Pennsylvania.
Voters here will recall that lawmakers in Harrisburg rammed through the slots bill in the dark of night in 2004, without any real public debate. The bare-bones bill was replaced at the last minute with a more detailed measure that most lawmakers likely barely read before voting. The bill slid through around July 4 that year, when the public was literally on holiday.
When the smoke from the back rooms cleared, Pennsylvania lawmakers had authorized 61,000 slot machines - the most of any state east of Nevada. The sweeping measure was the most expansive gambling bill enacted by any state in years.
The brain behind Pennsylvania's slots initiative was Gov. Rendell, who has been advocating for gambling and its revenue since he was mayor of Philadelphia.
Some of the loopholes and weaknesses in Pennsylvania's gambling bill have since come to light, and now there is an effort to amend the measure. Of course, that's after one slots owner has already been indicted for allegedly lying to gaming officials about his alleged mob ties.
All of these troubling events could have been avoided if Rendell and the lawmakers in Harrisburg had just practiced some open and honest democracy.
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