Oct 25, 2008 11:24 am US/Eastern
State Employee Union Gives Slots Group $500,000
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ―
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A union that represents state employees has given $500,000 to a pro-slots group according to a filing by the group.
CBS
A union representing state employees donated $500,000 to a group in favor of legalizing slots, helping pad a substantial fundraising lead over opponents of the gambling machines.
The contribution by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees was by far the largest among the $611,342 reported Friday by the group, For Maryland For Our Future, during a two-week period this month.
The finance reports are the last that are required before the November election in which voters will decide whether to allow slot machine gambling at five locations statewide.
The group in favor of slots also said it received $100,000 from family members of and a business affiliated with the owner of an Eastern Shore racetrack that would be eligible for a slots license.
The group has raised nearly $4.4 million. The leading opposition group, Marylanders United to Stop Slots, reported raising $159,720 during the two-week period, bringing its total donations to $570,773.
Scott Arceneaux, a senior adviser to the opposition group, told The Washington Post the latest campaign finance reports showed that the "pro-slots campaign is a multimillion-dollar, gambling industry-funded PR campaign to repackage the most addictive and destructive form of gambling."
Steve Kearney, a spokesman for the pro-slots group, said his group remains focused on its message that slots would "recapture" money that Marylanders are spending in other states and boost education funding.
The AFSCME donation came from the union's national treasury, said state director Patrick Moran, who told The (Baltimore) Sun the union hoped gambling revenues would help protect the jobs of state workers during the economic slowdown.
The donations include $25,000 from company controlled by Potomac developer William Rickman, who owns Ocean Downs, an Eastern Shore track eligible for a license under the referendum, and $25,000 a piece from three of Rickman's sisters.
The groups are not required to file reports again until Nov. 25, which prompted complaints from Common Cause Maryland.
"The closing days of the election are a critical time when some people are still making up their minds," said Ryan O'Donnell, the group's executive director. "It doesn't serve the public interest to keep this information dark until the election."
State budget analysts estimate slots revenue could reach more than $600 million a year after it's fully implemented, which would take several years. Gov. Martin O'Malley is strongly backing the constitutional amendment as a way of paying for education and battling the state's fiscal woes. About half of the money would go toward education. Opponents say that they will cost the state more because of crime, corruption and gambling problems.
Maryland's largest teachers union is also supporting the November referendum.
The board of the Maryland State Teacher's Association voted in March to support the referendum. The teachers union has not taken a position on the issue in the past, but the state's worsening financial problems prompted members to vote in favor, spokesman Dan Kauffman said at the time.
Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller had warned the union needed to support the proposal or be prepared for severe cuts in education funding. Miller also told union leaders that the failure of the referendum could force state lawmakers to seek another funding source for teacher pensions.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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