A proposal to ban video poker, bingo and slots-style games could hurt tax revenues and bingo parlors in Anne Arundel, officials said.
“You?re going to knock out legitimate places like BingoWorld, and those illegal machines will stay right where they are. Nobody?s going to enforce this law on the pubs and clubs,” said Larry Weinstein of Odenton-based Atlantic Bingo Supply, which provides video machines for the county?s bingo halls.
Twin bills introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly would ban all electronic gambling devices by July 2009 to save state-supported lottery and slots machines, lawmakers said.
But removal of the machines could hurt the $1.3 million in amusement taxes revenue the county collects each year from bingo halls that have dozens of the video gaming machines.
County Executive John R. Leopold said he has not studied the bill yet but he noted the possible fiscal impact on a county struggling to rake in dollars in the face of state funding cuts and declining tax revenue.
The proposal also puts Leopold in a tough predicament considering he is opposed to slot machines at Laurel Park racetrack, which could see 4,200 upon passage of a November referendum.
“I?m trying to secure as much revenue as I can, and I don?t want to lose any more revenue, but I?m also opposed to the expansion of gambling in the county,” Leopold said.
Weinstein said his machines comply with county law and pay the appropriate fees.
But state lawmakers say the machines aren?t taxed and regulated by the state, meaning less money is going into the lottery and other state-sanctioned gambling venues that generate funds for social service programs.
“We have unscrupulous vendors giving a small piece of the pie to nonprofits … and with no benefits coming to the state,” said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, D-Prince George?s and Calvert.
The bills? sponsors ? Miller and Sen. Thomas Middleton, D-Charles, in the Senate, and Del. Frank Turner, D-Howard, in the House ? said the emergency legislation is needed before the November referendum
“I find it ironic that these people don?t want slot facilities but are letting in this underground economy into their communities,” said House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, who supports the legislation.
