Maryland state Rep. Maggie McIntosh and state Senator Joan Carter Conway will introduce a constitutional amendment to make sure the state’s share of gambling tax revenue primarily is used for public education. The Democrats hope their proposal will be included in the legislative agenda for the 90-day session beginning January 10. If it passes, the amendment would appear on the 2018 ballot for voters to decide.
McIntosh, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the amendment would keep a promise made to Maryland voters when they approved casino gambling in 2008 and expanded it in 2012. “Voters believed that money was safe, that it could not be raided. The public really feels they were gamed in this. I started hearing constituents saying, ‘What has happened to the gaming money?’” she said.
Conway, chair of the Senate committee that deals with education issues, said education is the only spending priority required in the Maryland Constitution. However, recently passed legislation does not require education spending to increase as gambling revenue increases. As the state’s six casinos have flourished, money from gambling taxes has gone into the Education Trust Fund, but then into the general fund. Education spending has remained flat.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch said McIntosh’s proposal is “an idea we should explore” but would not promise to support it, due to potential cuts resulting from the new federal tax bill. Republican Governor Larry Hogan’s spokesman Doug Mayer said, “Overall, the administration is eager to see the details and will certainly give this all due consideration. We look forward to discussing it with Delegate McIntosh.”
However, Senate Republican Leader J. B. Jennings said he wonders why McIntosh and Conway proposed the amendment. “Governor Hogan has funded education at historic levels his entire three years in office. I don’t see the necessity.”
In the current budget, Maryland spends $6.4 billion out of its $43 billion annual budget on aid to local governments for K-12 education. During the budget year ended June 30, Maryland casinos generated $1.4 billion in revenue. Casinos kept $814 million of that and paid the rest in taxes. The major beneficiary, the Maryland Education Trust Fund, received $451 million from those taxes.
