David Cordish at The Cordish Cos. office in Baltimore. (Photo: Maximilian Franz)

A few items didn’t make it into today’s story about what developer David Cordish called an oversaturated casino market in Maryland.

Stephen L. Martino, director of the Maryland State Lottery Agency, said casino business is already starting to overlap. When Maryland Live! opens on June 6, Martino said business at Hollywood Casino Perryville is expected to lapse by 20 to 25 percent.

But Cordish doesn’t think the problem at Perryville will be a permanent one.

“I would be very surprised if, after the first three months, we have had a significant impact on Perryville,” Cordish said. During its first three months, a casino is going to attract lots of customers because it is new, he said, but eventually that levels off and stabilizes.

Cordish opposes the construction of a casino in Prince George’s County — something the legislature could discuss in a July special session — in part because it would hurt the market for his casino.

He said it’s important to give a casino time to develop a loyal customer base, an assertion backed by James Karmel, a gambling analyst and history professor at Harford Community College.

Karmel said much of the casino industry is built on establishing a loyal customer base and that process would be interrupted at Maryland Live! and at a proposed Baltimore casino if another facility was built at National Harbor before those casinos had time to settle in.

“I do think that’s a problem, especially when you add another [casino] without allowing the first two to build up a customer base,” Karmel said. “You want to give time to build up that customer base, maybe before introducing another option in the market.”

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As a work group prepares to consider expanded gambling in Maryland in its first meeting next week, the developer of the Maryland Live! casino at Arundel Mills mall says the state is already facing slots over saturation.

Here’s a few other headlines around the web:

• The Daily Record and others report that the Sparrows Point steel mill is laying off 1,975 employees.
• The Baltimore Sun reports that Gov. Martin O’Malley will take on Newt Gingrich on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
• The Herald-Mail reports that, while the state unemployment rate ticked upward in April, Washington County’s rate is at its lowest level since 2008.
• Patch.com reports that the Baltimore County Council approved a $2.9 billion budget, but also said the county should attempt to scale back its capital program.

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Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (Photo: Maryland State Archives)

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown certainly sounds like a man trying to raise his profile with the voters of Maryland.

In a pair of e-mails — one Wednesday, another Thursday morning — Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown announced the launch of AnthonyBrown.com, a fundraising website that he says will help Marylanders better communicate with and understand Gov. Martin O’Malley’s No. 2 man.

“This website will help me communicate with you about what we are doing in Maryland to strengthen our communities and, also, to hear from you about what more needs to be done,” Brown wrote in an e-mail to supporters.

He went on to say that a series of videos on the site would give users “more information about my background and service.” He named ending domestic violence and encouraging Marylanders to become foster or adoptive parents as issues that are important to him.

The lieutenant governor, the highest-ranking elected official nationwide to have served a tour of duty in Iraq, has long been thought of as a leading gubernatorial candidate in 2014.

O’Malley has reached the term limit as governor and is thought to have national aspirations when he leaves Annapolis.

It’s setting up to be a busy week for Brown, who is also getting married in College Park Sunday.

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Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell (Photo: Maryland State Archives)

Before even the first meeting of a gambling work group formed Monday, opposition is mounting against the possibility of Gov. Martin O’Malley calling a special session of the General Assembly to consider expanded gambling in Maryland.

Republican leaders of the House of Delegates — Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell and Minority Whip Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio — co-signed a letter to Democratic House Speaker Michael E. Busch on behalf of the House Republican caucus, detailing why a special session should not be convened.

“With annual 90-day sessions, it is our view that special sessions should only be called in times of true, rather than contrived, crisis,” the letter says. “We do not see any crisis or emergency that would necessitate a special session, nor has any reason been given why this must be done now.”

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. — who also received a copy of the letter, along with O’Malley — has pushed hard for the casino issue to be resolved this summer. Any change in state casino law requires an amendment to the state constitution. Any amendment to the state constitution must be approved in a statewide voter referendum during a general election.

If the issue is not voted on this fall, the next statewide election isn’t until 2014. But O’Donnell and Haddaway-Riccio wrote there still wasn’t enough reason to call a special session.

“Holding the debate until the regular session in 2013 may delay the question going to the voters until the 2014 election, but it will give legislators and voters alike the time to consider the issue thoughtfully,” the letter says.

Del. Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio (Photo: Maryland State Archives)

The letter goes on to say that the state should learn from the 2007 special session, where Maryland’s casino framework was established. Trying to change that framework just five years later — and less than two years after the state’s first casino opened — shows the “haphazard manner” through which the program was set up, the letter says.

“If Maryland’s slots program had been crafted in a more deliberative and thoughtful fashion, rather than in a chaotic frenzy, we could be in a very different position today,” the letter says. “We do not need a repeat of past mistakes, the citizens of Maryland deserve better.”

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Here’s a few headlines around the state this morning:

• The Frederick News Post reports that PlanMaryland has been de-fanged.
• Patch.com reports that Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown is getting married in College Park Sunday.
• The Washington Examiner reports that Prince George’s County lawmakers are frustrated they were not included as part of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s gambling work group.
• The Baltimore Business Journal reports that two Maryland lawmakers want to put transportation issues — like raising the gas tax — to a voter referendum.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House of Delegates Speaker Michael E. Busch posed for nearly 300 photos Tuesday in the year’s final scheduled bill signing ceremony.

For more info on that and other news around the state, here’s a few headlines:

• The Baltimore Sun reports that, among the bills signed by O’Malley, one will put a greater emphasis on social studies in Maryland schools.
• The Washington Post reports that O’Malley will be traveling to Maine and New Hampshire next week.
• Patch.com reports that Baltimore County class rooms have become more crowded due to state and county budgets.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley and the presiding officers of the General Assembly will sign more than 300 bills Tuesday morning, the last scheduled bill signing ceremony stemming from the 2012 legislative session.

Bills to be signed include a tax hike on Marylanders earning more than $100,000 a year and couples earning more than $150,000 a year and a ban on arsenic in chicken feed.

Here’s a few other headlines around the state:

• The Herald-Mail reports that a Hagerstown city council member wants a public hearing on a new stadium that could be built downtown and partially funded by the state.
• The Frederick News-Post reports that no arrests were made during G-8 Summit protests over the weekend.
• The Washington Examiner reports that the contractor building the Dulles Rail project is employing more Marylanders than Virginians.

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A special legislative session to expand gambling in Maryland could take place the week of July 9 if an 11-member work group recommends convening such a session.

Gov. Martin O’Malley named the work group Monday evening, less than a week after he told reporters he expected to call a second special session of the General Assembly, where lawmakers would consider creating a sixth state slots license for use in Prince George’s County and adding table games to existing Maryland casinos.

John Morton III, a former Bank of America executive and current chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, will lead the work group, which includes six legislators, two members of O’Malley’s cabinet and a pair of administration staff members but no private-sector gambling experts.

“It became evident in the 2012 legislative session that the issue of gaming should be examined in more detail,” O’Malley said in a statement. “We are pleased to announce the members of this work group to consider the issue of gaming in our State. We are confident that their expertise and guidance will help us move toward consensus on this issue.”

Other members of the work group are:

• Matthew Gallagher, O’Malley’s chief of staff
• T. Eloise Foster, secretary of the Department of Budget and Management
• Jeanne Hitchcock, secretary of Appointments
• Joseph Bryce, Senior Policy and Legislative Advisor
• Sen. Edward Kasemeyer, chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee
• Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, vice chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee
• Sen. Richard Madaleno, chair of education, business & administration subcommittee
• Del. Sheila Hixson, chair of Ways and Means Committee
• Del. Peter Hammen, chair of Health and Government Operations Committee
• Del. Frank Turner, chair of finance resources subcommittee

The group intends to meet three times. The first meeting is scheduled for June 1.

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Last week, Gov. Martin O’Malley confirmed plans for a second special session of the General Assembly, where lawmakers would discuss expanding the state’s gambling repertoire.

In this week’s podcast, we discuss O’Malley’s plans for that session, whether legislators are likely to pass new gambling legislation and what other issues could arise during the second overtime period for state lawmakers.

Enjoy.

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Maryland lost 6,000 jobs in April, making the state one of five that saw its unemployment rate tick upward in the month.

Here’s a few other headlines this morning:

• The Herald-Mail reports that small business shows signs of a economic recovery.
• MarylandReporter.com ponders the value of a full-time legislature.
• The Washington Post reports that funding for the Purple Line and Red Line is in jeopardy.

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