A U.S. Virgin Islands-based gambling promoter reintroduced a proposal Monday seeking to legalize slot machines in the District, according to D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics officials.
Shawn A. Scott, whose political action committee was fined $622,880 by the District for breaking city election laws during a nearly identical effort in 2004, is hoping to put 3,500 slot machines at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Good Hope Road SE in Anacostia.
The group withdrew several proposals last week after the D.C. Council’s general counsel, Charlotte Brookins-Hudson, pointed out serious legal flaws in the proposal, which violated the Home Rule Act by setting aside a specific city tax rate for slot revenues and demanding slots be approved for a specific site.
The new proposal does not “set” a tax rate but would make a “strong recommendation” to establish the same 25 percent rate mandated in the original withdrawn proposal, according to elections board documents.
The elections board is expected to decide May 3 whether the initiative can legally be placed before voters on the November ballot. Elections officials are expected to seek a legal opinion on the new proposal before the scheduled hearing.
Slots history
» Three judges ruled against slots quest in 2004
» D.C. elections board found a “pattern of fraud”
» 2004 D.C. slots bid cost $2 million
