Related story: Former delegate launches online petition against slots in county

After months of strategic silence on casino gambling, Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker wants to bring a high-end gaming facility to National Harbor.

The Baker administration released plans this week for a billion-dollar resort facility, to include slots and table games, that it thinks could generate $50 million per year in direct revenues to the county, and would not be linked to funding for a proposed new regional hospital in the county.

The mixed-use, waterfront development near Oxon Hill is the ideal location for a casino in the county because it would draw visitors from Virginia and Washington, D.C., as well as guests of the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in the development itself, administration officials said.

“National Harbor already is a high-end, destination facility,” said Brad Frome, Baker's deputy chief of staff. “It's got multiple entertainment venues, it's got a convention center that draws visitors from all over the country, probably the world.”

The administration projects the casino would create 5,000 permanent jobs and 1,300 construction jobs.

The Baker administration's plan would require several changes to enabling legislation currently before the General Assembly. State Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie introduced a bill this month calling for voters to approve a slots casino in Prince George's and allow table games at casinos throughout the state.

The bill should be amended to collect a 5.5 percent local share from table games, similar to the 5.5 percent collected from slot machines, according to the administration. Peters could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

The bill also should make sure there is no tie between the construction of a new hospital and gaming in the county, according to the administration.

Baker hadn't taken a firm position on bringing slots to the county until now. He objected to a ban proposed by County Council members last year, encouraging lawmakers to keep all options on the table until specific proposals had been considered.

An agreement reached last year among the county, state and University of Maryland Medical System to overhaul the struggling Prince George's Hospital System calls for the construction of a new regional medical center, expected to cost about $600 million. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach has suggested slots revenue could be used to fund a new facility.

“We don't want to have the concept to take root that the source for the state's share for the hospital is contingent upon there being gaming in Prince George's,” Frome said.

Under such an adjusted tax structure, Prince George's County could collect about $29 million per year in gaming tax revenue, $5.8 million in property taxes, $1.5 million in income taxes, $2.6 million in hotel taxes and $10.7 million in admissions and amusement taxes, according to the administration.

Of the $29 million, 20 percent would go to county nonprofits, 40 percent to address foreclosure issues in the county and 40 percent to economic development investments.

The administration's proposal has gained support from National Harbor's developer, The Petersen Cos., as well as from Gaylord Entertainment, which runs the nearby hotel and convention center.

Operation of the new casino would be put out to bid, as with other slots facilities in the state, according to the administration

But the plan might not convince those opposed to gaming in the county.

“It's a farce,” said County Councilwoman Mary Lehman (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel, who co-sponsored an unsuccessfully bill to ban slots last year. “This is not the way you build an economy; it's not the way you grow the county's future.”

Council Vice-Chair Eric Olson (D-Dist. 3) of College Park, who led the charge on last year's ban efforts, said the proposal has done nothing to change his personal objections. “I don't think that slots make for good economic development,” he said.

The council as a whole has not taken a position on the proposal, Olson said.

dleaderman@gazette.net