By Erik Alsgaard
UMConnection Staff The fact that many people in the United States make a choice between paying for food or taking a sick child to the doctor has caused The United Methodist Church to be a strong voice in favor of providing affordable health care to all. The denomination also denounces gambling as a ?menace to society? and calls for people to abstain from this practice. Baltimore-Washington Conference Bishop John R. Schol and his appointive Cabinet of nine district superintendents combined these issues in a series of meetings with lawmakers Jan. 26, culminating with the bishop speaking at a press conference on health care.  | ERIK ALSGAARD / UMCONNECTION | Bishop John R. Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Conference speaks at a press conference on health care Jan. 26 in Annapolis. |
In the state of Maryland, health care and slot machine gambling are two of the major issues facing lawmakers as the General Assembly gathers steam in Annapolis. The group first met with Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a Calvert County Democrat strongly in favor of slots in Maryland. ?We?re losing $600 to $700 million in revenue every year,? Miller said as one of his reasons for supporting slots. ?We?re surrounded on three-fourths of Maryland by states with gaming: West Virginia, Delaware, and now, Pennsylvania. People drive out of state and spend their money.? Calling gambling a ?moral choice? for adults, Miller said that the state needs the money to stay in Maryland to support education.  | ERIK ALSGAARD / UMCONNECTION | Bishop John R. Schol, right, speaks with President of the Maryland Senate, Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., in the State House in Annapolis about slot machines. Miller has been a leading proponent of slots in Maryland, and the Baltimore-Washington Conference Cabinet paid him a visit. |
Bishop Schol and the Cabinet, accompanied by the Rev. Byron Brought, pastor of Calvary UMC in Annapolis and no stranger to the hallways making up the State House complex, offered their views on why gambling is bad governmental policy. ?Slot machines unfairly target the poor and the elderly,? said the bishop. ?Gambling hurts lives, families, communities and government.? The group then met in the offices of Delegate Peter Franchot, a Democrat from Montgomery County, who is a leader in the anti-slots effort. ?We?re really up against it this year,? said Franchot. ?If we can beat it this year, it?s over.? Maryland?s governor, Robert Ehrlich, has pushed the issue of bringing thousands of slot machines to horse tracks around the state each of the last three years, including 2005. Both times, the bill has failed to pass. The bishop and Cabinet expressed their appreciation to Franchot for his work, and pledged their continued support to keep slots out of Maryland. ?We need your help,? Franchot replied. ?If you could help us get the word out, because this is a moral issue and we?re going to get gambling in this state if people don?t get involved.? The lawmaker urged United Methodists and others to bring people to the State House and visit their delegate and senator. ?It doesn?t have to be a huge rally to show you?re against slots,? he said. At noon, a press conference was held in the shadow of the State House to rally support for a measure that would have companies who employ more than 10,000 workers in Maryland pay an 8 percent payroll tax to provide health care benefits. ?This is a justice issue,? said Bishop Schol during the press conference, whose speakers included Mayor Martin O?Malley of Baltimore, Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, and Barry Scher, vice president of public affairs for Giant Food. ?This is an opportunity for legislators to work with business and labor to do what?s right.? ?We are for fairness and equity,? said Scher. ?Our people want and need health care coverage.? As one of two companies in the state with more than 10,000 employees ? the other being Wal-Mart ? the support of Giant Foods is a big step forward, said Vincent DeMarco, a lobbyist for the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, one of the originators of the bill. The bill, supported by more than 80 percent of Marylanders in a recent poll, according to DeMarco, faces opposition from the Ehrlich administration. Business and Economic Development Secretary Aris Melissaratos, for example, recently rejected the idea in the media, saying it was a ploy by some businesses to ?run away from competition.? (See related story, page 12) | 
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