Chris Rossi/The Gazette
Harold Goff, 53, of North East plays the slots at Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia on Friday.
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Davon Kittrell is just one of many Maryland residents who trek to West Virginia in hopes of striking it rich.
That's why she sets aside $40 and drives an hour and 15 minutes once a week to play the machines at Charles Town Races & Slots.
For Kittrell, it's all about the outing. She likes the scenery — the trees, nice homes and rolling green hills. And the money's not bad either: Kittrell said she has won $200 twice the past couple weeks.
"I'm guaranteed to leave with my money or a little bit more," said Kittrell, sitting in front of a Charles Town slot machine. "But as long as I go home with my $40, I'm good to go."
On Nov. 4, Maryland voters will finally decide whether they want slot machine gambling in the state. Kittrell said she will vote in favor of slots.
The ballot question comes after years of debate on whether the machines are a good fit for the state. Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) could not get slots approved during his tenure.
"I think most Marylanders have made up their mind," Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) told reporters Tuesday after a news conference promoting voter registration in Annapolis. "In a more perfect world, there might be other options. But right now we really need those slots dollars that are currently going to Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware to stay here in Maryland."
Keeping money home
Slots proponents say money generated from the machines would help boost the economy and keep residents from spending money in West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. If voters pass the slots referendum, the state would provide 15,000 slot machines at five locations in Baltimore city, Laurel, Rocky Gap, Cecil County and on the Eastern Shore.
Revenue generated by the machines would not close the budget gap and could put the state in a bigger financial hole because of costs associated with crime, new roads and addiction counseling, opponents say.
They also don't want to use gambling money to fund education and criticize politicians who claim that slots revenue would fully fund schools. For Maryland For Our Future, a pro slots group, estimates that 49 to 51 percent of annual slots revenue would be placed in the state's Education Trust Fund.
"That's trying to sell one evil on the backs of children," said Scott Arceneaux, senior adviser for Marylanders United to Stop Slots. "It puts the state into a gambling arms race with other states that we're destined to lose. Is that the kind of business we want here in Maryland? I think the answer is no."
By fiscal 2012, the pro-slots group estimates slots revenue would generate $660 million in funding for education.
Arceneaux disagrees. Slots money is going to replace the dollars for education in the general fund, allowing the state to spend the general fund on something else, he said.
In defending its case, the anti-slots group refers to a 13-year-old report by then-Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. that denounced slot machine gambling in the state.
"The impact would be this: Casinos would bring a substantial increase in crime to our state," including violent crime, insurance fraud, and domestic violence, Curran (D) wrote. "In a day and age when a paramount concern of our citizens is crime, it is nothing short of incredible to think that our state would seriously consider opening its arms to an industry that would only increase this terrible problem."
But for Frederick W. Puddester, former state budget secretary under Gov. Parris N. Glendening and chairman of For Maryland For Our Future, it's about balancing the budget and avoiding tax increases.
"I'd listen to the police, and the Fraternal Order of Police has approved the ballot question," Puddester said. "They believe it's in the best interest of the state to have them here and don't foresee an increase in crime."
In addition to the FOP, slots have also gotten the nod from the state teachers union, chamber of commerce, James T. Smith Jr. and Isiah Leggett, executives for Baltimore and Montgomery counties, respectively.
Getting involved
The Charles Town casino gets most of its business from Maryland residents, generating at least $150 million to the casino's gross revenue in 2006, according to a report written last year by Thomas E. Perez, secretary of the state's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. And most of the casino's Maryland residents are from Montgomery County, the report said.
Penn National Gaming, parent company of the Charles Town casino, would want to partner on a development project if slots came to Cecil County, said Eric Schippers, a Penn spokesman.
"When states look to expand gaming, we look to get involved," he said. "Rather than play defense, Charles Town is looking to grow its business."
At Delaware's three slots venues — Delaware Park, Harrington Raceway and Dover Downs — Maryland residents accounted for 30 percent of the total revenues from slots, or roughly $200 million, the Perez report said.
"I think at the end of the day," O'Malley said, "people do not want to give up the sorts of gains we've made in public education, affordable college and other things by turning these dollars over to West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania."
Harold Goff and his wife, Sharon, travel to Shenandoah Valley twice a year for vacation. They stop at Charles Town on the way there, and the way back, to spend $200 on slots.
"We don't come unless we have the money to spend," said Goff, 53, of North East.
But for Goff, who drives all the way from Cecil County to West Virginia, the decision next month is clear.
"I'd love to see [slots] come to Cecil County," he said. "Yeah, I'd love to see something come to Maryland."
Staff Writer Sean R. Sedam contributed to this report.
