The Maryland General Assembly is expected to pass easily a bill that would allow Democrat Gov. Martin O'Malley to seize the rights to horse racing's Preakness Stakes and the racetrack on which it is run by using eminent domain.
Mr. O'Malley introduced the emergency legislation Wednesday in response to rumors that the race, the second leg of the fabled Triple Crown, may be moved to another state by its owner, Toronto-based Magna Entertainment Corp., which filed for bankruptcy last month.
"This is a very bold step," said state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Prince George's Democrat, who said there was widespread support for the action in the Senate. "It's a move that the state needs to make to make sure the Preakness stays in Maryland."
The bill, which will be debated in the General Assembly on Thursday, would subject all rights and racing events that are associated with the Preakness Stakes - including its trophy, the Woodlawn Vase - to a state takeover.
It also would allow the state to purchase or exercise eminent domain over Magna's Maryland properties: Laurel Park Racetrack, the Bowie Race Course Training Center and Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat, said the House also would likely approve the measure, but that it was not in the state's interest to run the Preakness or the tracks in the long term.
"We just want to see the Preakness stay in Maryland. That's something the assembly agrees with," he said.
Under eminent domain, the government is empowered to seize private property in the public interest and offer fair compensation to property owners. But the practice has provoked controversy in recent years, with many property rights advocates seeing it as an abuse of government power. |