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Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)The Maryland General Assembly will convene the week of July 9 for a special session on expanded gambling if an 11-member work group announced Monday can reach consensus on a plan, Gov. Martin O’Malley said.

O’Malley named John Morton III, a business and financial services executive, as chairman of the group, which also includes four members of O’Malley’s staff and six legislators, three apiece picked by the leader of the House and Senate.

A bill died on the final night of this year’s 90-day legislative session that called for a public vote on allowing a full-fledged casino in Prince George’s County and Las Vegas-style table games at Maryland’s five existing slots locations.

Some lawmakers blamed brinkmanship over the bill for slowing down budget negotiations, which also collapsed on the session’s final night.

Supporters and opponents of gay nuptials in Maryland are offering different takes about the impact of the decision by the board of directors of the NAACP to endorse same-sex marriage.

Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, which is leading efforts to repeal Maryland’s new same-sex marriage law, said Monday that he thinks the NAACP’s stand will actually inspire more people to get involved on his group’s side of the issue.

“We respect the NAACP and its rich history,” McCoy said. “But this is clearly not in lockstep with their constituents. We feel they’ve made a real misstep.”

Leaders of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, meanwhile, said they could not be more pleased with the NAACP action taken over the weekend.

“It is yet again reflective of the growing momentum within the African American community — like all communities — to support stronger families and protect children,” said Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality.

Levin noted that the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP has been on board in Maryland since his coalition’s formation last summer.

Julian Bond, chairman emeritus of the NAACP, has also endorsed Maryland’s new law. And on Monday, Gerald Stansbury, president of the Maryland State Conference NAACP, told the Washington Blade: “We’re supporting the national office and the national NAACP and taking the position that they have.”

Both sides are gearing up for an expected November referendum in Maryland on a law signed in March by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). McCoy’s group says it is ahead of pace in its efforts to collect enough signatures to force a public vote.

The views of black voters in Maryland could prove pivotal to the measure’s outcome on the ballot. African Americans make up a larger share of residents in Maryland than in any state outside the Deep South.

A Post poll in January showed 50 percent of adults overall voiced support for same-sex marriage and 44 percent opposed it. Among African Americans, the Post poll showed a majority were opposed: 53 percent to 39 percent.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). (AP Photo/Brian Witte)For Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), it turns out that June 2 will be a double header of sorts.

Besides addressing Democrats in New Hampshire — home of the nation’s first presidential primaries — O’Malley is also scheduled to speak to Democrats in Maine, an aide confirmed.

The New Hampshire appearance, which was reported in this space last week, is scheduled in the morning of June 2 at the convention of the state Democratic Party.

That evening, O’Malley, who is chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, is also booked to deliver the keynote address at the Maine Democratic Party convention.

The back-to-back northeastern stops come as O’Malley’s national profile continues to grow within the party.

O’Malley, who is regularly mentioned as a possible 2016 candidate for national office, also just oversaw a special session of the Maryland legislature where passage of an income tax increase is likely to become a defining part of his record.

The Montgomery County Council will be keeping nearly all of a unpopular tax increase on fuel and energy use that was set to sunset this year, legislators said Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Montgomery County legislators will announce the results of weeks-long deliberations over the county’s $4.6 billion operating budget and $4.3 billion six-year capital spending plan.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley before signing Maryland’s same-sex marriage law in March. (Patrick Semansky/AP)Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is headed to New Hampshire next month, a trip certain to stoke talk about 2016 presidential ambitions.

O’Malley has been booked as the “special guest” at the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention on June 2 in Manchester.

An announcement cites both O’Malley’s role as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and his championing this year of Maryland’s same-sex marriage law, which is likely to be petitioned to the ballot in November.

O’Malley’s national profile has been on the rise during his nearly year and a half as chairman of the DGA — though he has drawn some flak from lawmakers back home who accuse him of not paying enough attention to Maryland legislative matters.

In recent months, O’Malley — who has brushed off speculation about ambitions beyond Maryland — has become a regular on Sunday talk shows and made other appearances at Democratic gatherings around the country.

His trip to New Hampshire is his second this year to an early presidential nominating state. In January, he appeared at a national party news conference in South Carolina shortly before the Republican primary in that state.

O’Malley appeared at the same event in New Hampshire five years ago, as a stand-in for for Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he had endorsed in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries.