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Will Slots Come to BWI?

Will slot machines come to Baltimore-Washington International / Thurgood Marshall Airport? If Delegate Eric M. Bromwell has his way, the answer to that question will soon be “yes.” Bromwell is sponsoring House Bill (H.B.) 777, a proposal to add BWI as one of the potential homes to several thousand slot game terminals approved by the Legislature last fall. If passed, H.B. 777 would clear the way for as many as three thousand poker machines to be installed in the terminal area of the airport, where passing travelers could play their luck. The bill is being supported by a bipartisan coalition of eleven lawmakers from Baltimore County, but Governor Martin O’Malley has already refused the proposal as a “bad idea.”

It’s an ideological about-face for O’Malley, the driving force behind the Legislature’s initial approval of the new slot machines after a 40+ year absence from the Old Line State. O’Malley has egg on his face with regards to slots at the moment. Only six developers submitted bids for the five sites currently allowed by law, two of which were rejected.

Bromwell, however, maintains that putting slot terminals at BWI is a winning proposition for the state, because the games will bring in revenue from other states and countries. Locals won’t really be able to access the slot games, since they will be behind security terminals, and the games would be another way for the cash-strapped government to access some badly-needed resources. Voters would have to ratify the amendment to the current state gambling law if H.B. 777 is passed.

Back to February 2009 Archive.