The House managed the 71 votes needed to pass the measure. Forty-four delegates voted against the bill, 15 did not vote and 11 were absent for the vote that occurred after 1 a.m. House Speaker Michael Busch, who has been a wary critic of politically divisive Link Slot Deposit Pulsa Tanpa Potongan machine legislation considered in recent years, said voters will now get a year to consider where the machines would be placed and how the industry would be regulated.
“They’ll get a year to scrutinize it, and in November of 2008 you’ll have the purest form of democracy, which is a direct vote by eligible voters, the citizens of the state. I think it’s the appropriate way,” Busch, D-Anne Arundel, said.
The bill, which defines how 15,000 machines would be distributed in five locations, complements another measure the House barely managed to pass Friday night to hold a referendum on whether to legalize slot machines. The House vote on Friday was 86-52, just one vote above the 85 needed for a three-fifths majority, to put the politically difficult issue on the ballot for voters to decide in the form of a constitutional amendment.
The Senate already has approved two roughly similar bills. House and Senate negotiators were scheduled to either work out some differences between bills or concur with versions already passed on the slots measures, budget cuts and a $1.4 billion tax package Sunday afternoon and evening.
Republicans criticized the slots proposal, saying it was badly flawed in …
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