People don’t believe us.
At neighborhood meetings, when my 41st District colleagues and I discuss how the money from slots will be spent, our constituents don’t believe us.
Blame it on the advertising for the referendum when the lottery was authorized 40+ years ago, which said that the money would be used for education, or a general distrust of government. It’s there.
Which brings us to next week’s special session of the General Assembly.
Add table games and make some other changes, but leave a decision on a sixth site to a later time when there’s more data on the operation of the five original sites, advises the Sun editorial board.
That bill won’t pass the Senate.
Only a bill authorizing a new license in Prince George’s County will.
Those are the political realities.
So where will my efforts be focused?
Speaker Busch has said that we should maximize the return from slots to the Education Trust Fund.
That fund receives 48.5% of the money from the tax on gambling at the five – or six, licensed facilities. It’s the biggest piece of the pie chart of how that revenue is distributed.
The money can be used for public education – operating and capital costs for kindergarten through 12th grade, and capital costs for community colleges and higher ed.
My goal: when gambling revenues in the Education Trust Fund increase, so should the state’s overall spending on education.
