Black Caucus turns on slots

ANNAPOLIS — Black lawmakers say they backed an amendment to remove Prince George’s County as a potential site for slot machines because the Ehrlich administration could not promise blacks ownership.

Maryland Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Obie Patterson, said black lawmakers are upset with Gov. Rob-ert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, because of his reported comments that slot machines should not be placed at Ocean Downs in the Ocean City area because of its “family atmosphere.”

“I think that was a major turnoff,” Mr. Patterson, a Prince George’s County Democrat, said. “I had some delegates who told me this is nothing but racism.”

Mr. Ehrlich has said he “never” made the comment that slots would “tarnish the family image” of Ocean City, which was reported by the Baltimore Sun on Jan. 11, 2003.

The governor has also said he did not state that slots would disrupt the “family atmosphere” of the resort town, as reported by The Washington Post on Feb. 27, 2003.

Mr. Ehrlich maintains he said only that residents of that area just do not want slots.

Mr. Patterson, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that is considering the slots bill, said he is also concerned about Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele’s statement to The Washington Times that he would not guarantee blacks ownership in possible slots emporiums, though he would ensure all minorities have an equal opportunity.

“The timing of it was not appropriate,” Mr. Patterson said. “And the hard-line approach was not appropriate.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Carolyn J.B. Howard, Prince George’s Democrat, said Monday that she would amend Mr. Ehrlich’s slots bill to take Prince George’s County out of his plan because Mr. Steele’s statement was a “deal breaker.”

“I think it is self-serving,” she said. “We cannot set aside a facility for a minority because that is unconstitutional, then how can we have a set-aside for anyone?

“We can’t sit back and have a billion-dollar industry and not have minorities represented. That is old school.”

Delegate Victor R. Ramirez, also a Prince George’s Democrat on the House committee, said he supports Mrs. Howard’s amendment. He also had serious reservations about Mr. Ehrlich’s reported comments.

“What does it say to the Anglos in Prince George’s County?” asked Mr. Ramirez, a Hispanic. “’You don’t matter and the ones that live in Ocean Downs and Timonium do?’”

Henry P. Fawell, a spokesman for Mr. Ehrlich, said the governor has already stated he never made the comments and declined to make further statements.

Mr. Steele’s spokeswoman, Regan Hopper, called the comments about the lieutenant governor “ludicrous.”

“There’s no bigger advocate for minority businesses in the state than Lieutenant Governor Steele,” she said. “Lieutenant Governor Steele spent this past year working diligently to reform and improve Maryland’s Minority Business Enterprise program and invited all the delegates to help us move the [reform] legislation.”

Paul E. Schurick, Mr. Ehrlich’s communications director, has said consultants think Prince George’s County is ideal for slots because it is near I-95, the East Coast’s major north-south corridor, and because it’s close to Baltimore and Washington.

The decision to pull Prince George’s County out of contention for slots comes after County Executive Jack B. Johnson, a Democrat, asked the 23 members of the county’s delegation to oppose attempts to put slots in the county.

Mr. Johnson, who had the backing of the County Council, did not ask the delegation to vote against the slots legislation. He said putting slots closer to Charles Town and Dover Downs horse track, in Allegany and Cecil counties respectively, would “make more sense.”

Five of the 22 House Ways and Means members are from Prince George’s County.

Mr. Patterson said the majority of the delegation will support removing Prince George’s County from the proposal.

Delegate Salima S. Marriott, a Baltimore Democrat and member of the committee, supports the Black Caucus, but said her first concern is her community.

Last year the House committee — led by House Speaker Michael E. Busch, an Anne Arundel Democrat — killed Mr. Ehrlich’s attempt to place slots at horse tracks to help fund the $1.3 billion court-mandated Thornton Education Act, which attempts to reduce the disparity between rich and poor public school districts.

Mr. Ehrlich’s original bill called for 11,500 slot machines at the Pimlico horse racing track in Baltimore, Laurel Racetrack in Anne Arundel County, Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George’s County and a proposed track in Allegany County. However, his plan has changed considerably since he submitted it last year.

This year, Mr. Busch and House lawmakers are calling for $670 million in sales and income taxes to pay for the Thornton act.

They have tried to strike a deal with Mr. Ehrlich, but he repeatedly has said he will not support sales- or income-tax increases.

Mr. Ehrlich’s new plan called for an additional 4,000 slot machines at two off-track sites along Interstate 95 — including one presumably in Prince George’s County near the National Harbor, a waterfront development under construction. But the Senate revised the plan so that 15,500 slot machines would go into six sites, with as many as four sites in Prince George’s County.

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Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, chairman of the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said yesterday she is willing to revive Mr. Ehrlich’s environmental legislation, known as the “flush tax,” to reach a compromise before the Assembly session ends Monday.

The disagreement between Mrs. Hollinger, Baltimore County Democrat, and Republican leaders centers on how owners of septic tanks should be treated in the legislation, which raises money for sewage plant upgrades by charging homeowners with sewer lines.

After meeting with Mrs. Hollinger, Mr. Ehrlich said he is not opposed to charging homeowners with septic tanks a fee to help fund Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. But the fee should be less than a would-be monthly charge of $2.50 levied on homes with sewer lines, and it should be dealt with “outside the scope of this bill,” Mr. Ehrlich said.

At stake is $1 billion in sewage treatment plant upgrades, improvements paid for with a $30 annual fee from homeowners with sewer lines. The septic fees would go to grants for improving septic systems and to restore cover crops.