ANNAPOLIS – Maryland lawmakers are set to take up a slew of gambling bills Wednesday proposing everything from legalizing table games to trying to make the woeful Allegany County slots site more appealing to a developer.
The bills go before the Maryland General Assembly’s Senate Budget and Taxation committee beginning at 1 p.m. One bill would require a potential slots licensee for Allegany County’s designated slots site to also purchase the Rocky Gap Lodge and Resort. The beleaguered resort is partially owned by the state government and has lost millions of taxpayer dollars over the years.
State law requires that a slots facility in Allegany County must be in the Rocky Gap State Park in a building that is separate from the lodge, but can be adjacent or connected to the lodge.
Another bill seeks to revamp the distribution of slots revenue to temporarily redirect some funds to support racing operations in the state.
And for the second year in a row, table games is, well, on the table in this year’s legislative session. This bill would allow slots license holders in the state to also operate table games, such as blackjack and poker.
Maryland has been continually behind the ball in terms of gambling in the mid-Atlantic region as table games were installed nearly a year ago in Pennsylvania and West Virginia — months before Maryland’s first slots facility opened.
