Aproposal to put slot machines at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has moved from just plain impossible to a nearly impossible long shot.
Every year for the past six years, Del. Eric M. Bromwell's proposal to put 2,500 slot machines at BWI has been killed in committee — but Tuesday offered the Baltimore County Democrat a glimmer of hope.
Airport officials stopped actively opposing his plan.
Casino at BWI Marshall Airport looking more like a possibility
A casino could be heading to BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Beyond that, the House Ways and Means Committee, which has repeatedly quashed his dream, has 13 new members who have never voted against it.
"This is exciting," said committee Chairwoman Sheila E. Hixson, giving Bromwell a good-natured ribbing as he began to pitch his legislation. "Half of the group has never heard this before."
Bromwell's plan would put a higher concentration of slot machines at BWI than at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. If approved first by the legislature and then by Maryland voters in 2016, BWI could have slot machines.
The Maryland Aviation Administration has taken no position this year on whether to endorse the plan, a shift from the outright objection offered under the previous administration.
"We're not opposing it, we're not supporting," Dale Hilliard, chief of staff for the agency, said in an interview. "The new administration wanted to take a look at everything."
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's spokeswoman, Erin Montgomery, said the administration does not have a "definitive answer at this point. We're not going to comment on bills until they're closer to the governor's desk."
Slot machines at BWI [Poll]
Slot machines at BWI [Poll]
Bromwell assured his colleagues in the General Assembly that his bill would tastefully tuck slot machines into corners of the airport, and only travelers over 21 years old could go inside.
"We don't want to be Nevada," he said. "We don't want these to line the terminals as you're walking through BWI."
Unlike the configuration in Las Vegas, where a spokeswoman said the slot machines are scattered nearly everywhere besides bathrooms and the ticketing counter, Maryland's airport slot machines would be placed behind security screeners.
"Unless you have a ticket to get on a plane, you wouldn't be able to drive to the airport to play," Bromwell said.
The security rule, he said, helps allay fears that the airport would compete with two other large casinos within 15 minutes of BWI: Maryland Live! at Arundel Mills and the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore.
Maryland voters approved constitutional amendment to legalize gambling at five slots-only casinos in 2008. In 2012, voters expanded the industry to include a sixth site and table games. Taxes from those casinos are earmarked for education.
World Series of Poker event opening at Horseshoe in Baltimore
World Series of Poker event opening at Horseshoe in Baltimore
Bromwell's proposal would funnel BWI slot money into the state's fund for transportation. He considers that another reason for optimism, especially since Hogan has proposed reversing some of the gas taxes that fund transportation.
"The idea behind this is to capture money from people who are not Maryland residents," he said. "You have a new governor who wants to raise revenue without raising taxes."
So is Bromwell betting on his bill passing the legislature next year? Not exactly.
"We have two years to get this passed" by the legislature, he noted, and still get onto the 2016 ballot. .