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| ( Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun / September 29, 2012 ) |
Supposedly, the ads against it are being financed by casinos in West Virginia, but who cares. That's part of the game.
After talking with some friends and coworkers about it, the real reason people are annoyed is because of the lies.
The problem is the governor has promised "hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools" as well as thousands of jobs.
That's actually not true. As the state comptroller explained publicly, funding for Maryland schools is decided by the Bridge to Excellence Act. It's a state law that pre-determines the level of funding for schools and sets aside money for that.
So, in Maryland, schools are paid for. The state comptroller said the only thing additional revenues can do is free up spending for something else.
Like what?
Who knows. The governor keeps talking about schools. Taxpayers don't know what the money will be spent on.
Another thing is the tax rate the casino owners will pay. The state is only collecting 25% of the gambling revenue. Seriously, that's the best deal you can negotiate? Even 34% would be better. Honestly, it would have to be over 50% to make up for the lies about school funding.
Even so, it's hard to pass up any source of new revenue and jobs. Except that the existing casinos haven't delivered on any of the campaign promises. Maryland Live! casino was supposed to lower our taxes. That's why I voted for it a few years ago. Instead, the governor raised taxes in May from 4.75% to 5% to avoid cuts in education and public safety.
I feel like I've already been mislead once on casino gambling. I won't let it happen again. That's why I'm voting no on Question 7, to demand more honesty from the state government.
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