The legislation allowed all casinos to add lucrative table games, such as poker, craps and roulette. The casino companies generally kept no more than 33 percent.īut the 2012 law included concessions for the companies to ease their concerns over the addition of a mega-casino in Prince George’s County. The 2008 law set up an Education Trust Fund to receive the lion’s share of gambling revenues from slots at five new casinos: About half of the slots revenue went directly to the education fund and an additional 18.5 percent to other state programs.
The upcoming referendum on gambling had propelled Maryland’s schools into the spotlight of a multimillion-dollar campaign where supporters touted the message that more gambling would be a win for education.īut the measure, approved by voters that fall, has actually worked to send more money to the casino companies this fiscal year than to the education fund that was established when the state first legalized casino gambling in 2008. Martin O’Malley looked into the camera in 2012 and told his audience that expanded casino gambling would mean “hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools.”
