Issue Position: Standing Against Slots

Issue Position

Comptroller Franchot is one of the leading voices against the establishment of slot machines in Maryland. It has been proven, in state after state after state, that slot machines offer nothing more than false hope to desperate communities.

They have destroyed families through addiction, bankruptcies and crime, and have left governments scrambling to cover their enormous social costs by any means necessary. They have driven small businesses out of existence and left Main Streets across this country a boarded-up shell of what they once were. They have repeatedly failed to deliver on the promises of lowering taxes and establishing dedicated funding for better schools, and instead have trampled on local planning and zoning efforts which were carefully created to enhance our communities.

No matter how one dresses it up, spins it or tries to justify it, this is a regressive tax on the poor that carries with it significant, negative social consequences.

Unfortunately, we have been down this road before some forty years ago when slots were legal in Maryland - and the results were disastrous. We saw crime, corruption, bankruptcy and the destruction of entire communities. That's why in 1966 we outlawed slots here in Maryland. And it is why we should keep them illegal in 2008.

Peter Franchot will work with a broad grassroots coalition to defeat the slots referendum, which represents a step backward for our state and diminishes our standing as a leader in the Knowledge-based economy.

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