Political Science professor Tom Schaller tackled legalized gambling in his June 12 column for The Baltimore Sun, “Casinos are no game-changer for Maryland finances.”
With the recent opening of the Maryland Live! Casino in Arundel Mills, hopes are high that the expansion of gambling in the state can aid in issues with the state budget and local economy via tax revenue, spending by tourists, increased job creation, and other potential benefits.
Schaller, however, noted a 2002 column of his which detailed the complexities of legalized gambling, arguing that many of the forms of gaming introduced in Maryland over the years hold greater appeal for the working-class demographic of the gambling community (scratch-off tickets, lottery, Keno, etc.), while the higher-stakes live-dealer tables favored by more affluent gamblers have yet to be legalized here. The professor then lists a few statistics showing the relatively slight financial return of casino receipts on state budgets, though he does conclude that “casino receipts are not unlike income tax increases on the top 1 percent: Alone they cannot solve the government’s revenue problems, but they do make a difference at the margins — which is why most taxpayers are keen on both.”
