Daily Record, The (Baltimore): Gov. Ehrlich tying slot-machine gambling initiative to funding for

Overtly tying his slot-machine gambling initiative to funding for school construction is a wise move by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. because it has great appeal to the general public, said those with ties to Maryland's horse racing industry.

The governor on Friday released his legislative agenda. It includes a video lottery bill and medical malpractice reform, as well as entrepreneurial investment and research and development tax credits.

The general public really doesn't care much about horse racing, said Mark Ricigliano, a Laurel businessman and veterinarian who tried to buy Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County.

When you turn it into something really appealing to the general public - the overall bill will be more palatable.

This is the third year Ehrlich has proposed slots legislation. It has failed the past two years.

In the past, the governor more loudly tied slots legislation to the horse racing industry. This year, he conspicuously tied it to school construction.

The Republican governor has said he did not want to waste his time with the same legislation that died during the last two sessions of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. However, he said Friday this year's bill is almost identical to last year's and that he had no unrealistic expectations about this bill.

But when officials representing all of Maryland's municipalities arrived last week to ask for more public school funding, Ehrlich couldn't stop saying slots.

The governor warned state lawmakers who entered the Governor's Reception Room in Annapolis' State House that he had their voting records on slots in front of him.

If you want $100 million more, pass slots, Ehrlich said.

Lobbyist Gerard E. Evans called the strategy brilliant.

It focuses directly on what the economies of slots can do for the students of Maryland, said Evans, who lobbies for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Rosecroft and Peter Angelos, whose family now owns Rosecroft.

Still, Ehrlich told reporters Friday afternoon that if the bill does not pass the Legislature, it will cause the degeneration of the horse racing industry.

[It is] a very important industry in our state and once it goes away, it will evaporate, he said.

Yet, aside from his approach to the issue and the few differences in the bill, not much has changed from previous years: Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. supports slots legislation; House Speaker Michael E. Busch does not.

Slots at racetracks - is a moderate proposal, said Miller, D- Calvert and Prince George's. It's a comprehensive proposal. Citizens can get the direct benefits.

What remains to be seen is whether the House leadership will support it, said both Miller and Ehrlich.

We're going to await the speaker's actions, the governor said.

Meanwhile, Busch, D-Anne Arundel, said the issue would boil down to where slot machines are placed.

The debate for the House has always been location of facilities, he said. In two years, we haven't had any county commissioners, any county executives ask for slot machines to be placed in their facilities.

Furthermore, the state should not be funding the private horse racing industry, Busch said.

If there was this huge social value to this, there would be a huge cry for this, he said. But there's not an overwhelming desire, obviously, to commit to this.

Although the money would be much appreciated, communities do not want to take on the burden of damaging their hospitality industries, endangering public safety or contributing to gambling addiction, Busch said.

Ehrlich's bill calls for 3,500 video lottery terminals at Pimlico Race Course in Northwest Baltimore, Laurel Park and Rosecroft; 1,000 at a future racetrack in Allegany County; and up to 4,000 terminals at no more than two non-racetrack destination locations.