Chamber joins labor to support slots

Coalition supporting November referendum grows

The endorsements by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday and the Maryland State and District of Columbia AFL-CIO today are not surprising, but they signal the broad coalition of groups getting behind the referendum. The Maryland State Teachers Association and Maryland Association of Counties have previously offered their support.

Combined, the four groups have diverse memberships across the state that could prove key to reaching undecided voters.

‘‘They all come at this from different perspectives, but it comes back to the crux that this is the best alternative,” said Frederick W. Puddester, a former budget secretary who is leading the pro-slots movement. ‘‘This gives us an advantage in getting that word out and reaching the public as to the implications of this referendum and the negative things that can happen if it fails.”

While business and labor don’t often see eye-to-eye, slots are the rare exception.

‘‘What we often say is that we don’t have permanent friends or permanent enemies,” said Fred D. Mason, president of the AFL-CIO. ‘‘Working people have permanent issues, so we are constantly concerned about job creation because that means that more people can pay taxes so we can have better education ... To the extent that other people support that, we say ‘Welcome aboard.’”

The chamber has long supported slots as a way of keeping taxes down and sustaining funding for education and work force development. Budget analysts project that 15,000 slots terminals at five locations across the state could generate up to $700 million a year, with about half going toward education.

Slots foes argue that they are immoral and will lead to social ills.

But Mason said legalizing slots will create hundreds of new jobs in the construction and hospitality industries and offer a way for fully funding education and other important programs without having to pay higher taxes.

‘‘The choices are pretty clear. The state does not have bake sales. It gets money from taxes and fees [and] we certainly don’t want the state to raise taxes,” he said. ‘‘We have been saying for years that if folks have another way of doing that, then they should put it on the table, and so far we have not seen anything that even comes close to providing the kind of enhancements that would come from the slots revenues.”