As Gov. Martin O’Malley on Monday begins a series of meetings with Maryland’s top leaders over whether to expand gambling in the state, the state Senate president is warning that if lawmakers don’t pass such legislation this summer, the General Assembly’s regular session in 2014 will be “the session from hell.”

The issue created a major rift between the House and Senate during budget negotiations earlier this year. If it’s not resolved, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert and Prince George’s, warned that gambling will resurface again in 2014, the next year a referendum on gambling could be placed on statewide ballots.