BY BRIAN WITTE

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a $1.3 billion tax package into law yesterday, along with a measure putting slot machine gambling on the ballot for voters to decide next year.

The bill-signing ceremony with House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller was held a little more than 12 hours after the Maryland General Assembly adjourned after a difficult special session that took three weeks to confront a projected $1.7 billion structural deficit.

"We finally settled that most contentious issue of all that had divided us for these last four years by finding the humility to let the people decide," O'Malley said, referring to the referendum that will be held in November 2008 on whether to legalize up to 15,000 slot machines.

O'Malley said he would be urging voters to support slot machines in the yearlong buildup to the referendum. Slot machines, if voters approve them, are estimated to raise hundreds of millions of dollars after several years, with about half of the money going toward education.

O'Malley described how a property tax reduction he initially wanted was scrapped by lawmakers, because they were concerned about whether the slot machine revenue would ever materialize.

Meanwhile, opponents to expanding gambling were gearing up for a statewide campaign against slot machines.

"The bills are not that strong, and there's a lot of problems," Aaron Meisner, chairman of StopSlots Maryland, said of the two pieces of legislation related to slot machines. "There's a lot of unhappiness out there, and we're working already in terms of putting together a strategy for the referendum."

Meisner said he believes opponents have an opportunity to beat back the proposal, because of what he described as "a less than stellar legislative product" that was passed along with complicated tax packages in the challenging three-week session.

The two slot-machine measures--one to put the matter on the ballot and the other with all the details about how the machines will be implemented if voters want them--were among six signed by O'Malley, a Democrat.