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A lawsuit against ballot wording for a constitutional amendment on slot machine gambling should be thrown out because the language properly reflects legislation approved by the General Assembly, the attorney general's office argued yesterday. Slots opponents say the wording by the Maryland Secretary of State's office only tells voters that slot machine revenue will go toward education. They say it omits significant amounts set aside for slots operators and other entities, including horse racing purses. But attorneys for the state point out in court documents filed yesterday that the entire slots proposal consists of two bills approved by lawmakers last year - one bill putting the matter to a constitutional amendment and another with the details on how slots would be implemented, if voters approve them in November. The Secretary of State's ballot wording properly sums up the constitutional amendment in the first bill, the attorney general's office argued. Details in the second measure are spelled out in a summary made by the state's nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services. That summary will be provided to voters by a sample ballot mailed at least one week before the election. "Both documents provide voters a clear and understandable view of the proposed video lottery amendment; together, they provide voters a comprehensive understanding of the General Assembly's proposal," the attorney general's office argued. A hearing tentatively has been scheduled on the lawsuit for Wednesday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. The lawsuit was filed by attorney Irwin Kramer, the lawyer who represented an unsuccessful, Republican-led lawsuit to overturn last year's special session, when the referendum idea was approved along with $1.4 billion in tax increases to address a structural budget deficit. Leaders from two anti-slots groups also have signed on to the slot machine lawsuit. Under the slot machine proposal, 48.5 percent of the money would go to education. Slot machine operators would get 33 percent. Another 7 percent would go to horse racing purses; 2.5 percent would be set aside for horse racing track renewal; 5.5 percent would go to local governments; 2 percent would go to lottery administrative costs; and 1.5 percent would be allocated to a fund for small, minority and women-owned businesses. But the ballot wording only mentions education funding, prompting cries from slots critics that the language puts approval in a more favorable light to voters, who will decide the issue on Nov. 4. This is cache, read story here
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