Tax and casino bills die in chaotic, final night in Maryland State House Both high-profile bills awaited final votes as lawmakers raced toward a scheduled midnight adjournment after a day of unusually fierce brinkmanship among Democrats. The fate of the gambling bill was likely to come down to the 90-day session's final hour. The tax increase would be the state's first in five years and first since the beginning of the economic downturn. Maryland would join an increasing number of mostly Democratic-led states in raising taxes to offset depressed state tax revenue. Combined with a controversial measure to shift a share of teacher pension costs to counties, which also was awaiting a final vote, the increase would balance Maryland's 2013 budget and close half of a projected $1 billion annual shortfall for the remainder of the decade. The Prince George's casino was part of a bill that would also facilitate the largest gambling expansion in the state since lawmakers authorized five slots locations in 2007. The legislation pending Monday night would allow a full-fledged casino at National Harbor - with slots and Las Vegas-style table games - subject to approval by voters both statewide and in the county. "This [session] certainly is going down to the wire on a lot of important things," Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) told reporters late Monday, adding that he never expected gambling to become such a big part of the session. Amid the scramble over gambling and the budget, O'Malley saw partial victory Monday night on his environmental agenda. Legislators passed a bill that will double the state's "flush tax" to fund improvements to wastewater treatment systems. O'Malley had sought to make the fee progressive, based on water consumption. But lawmakers concluded that would have strained small businesses, and they instead settled on a flat doubling of the fee to $60. That was one of two parts of O'Malley's environmental agenda that received final passage. However, a more forceful attempt by O'Malley to curb septic use by inserting the state into local land-use decisions was watered down significantly. As much as it was a finale to the General Assembly's session, Monday marked a return to power struggles among Maryland Democrats - a party that has long loomed so large in the state that its members can hold fiercely different views on an array of issues, not the least being gambling and taxes.