WBOC quotes Johnny blocking new taxes on Maryland sports betting

As Maryland’s sports betting industry started throwing off real revenue, Annapolis Democrats did what Annapolis Democrats do — they started looking at it as another piggy bank to crack open to cover the budget deficit they created with their own spending.

Johnny drew the line. Maryland already has plenty of taxes and plenty of fees. The fact that a new industry is succeeding doesn’t mean the answer is to tax it harder until it isn’t.

Here on the Eastern Shore, working families already know how this ends. Every “tax on the industry” eventually becomes a tax on the customer — a few more dollars off the paycheck of the guy who bets twenty bucks on Sunday’s game, a few more out of the small business that advertises on a sports app. Johnny won’t sign off on another round of that math.