toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio

COLUMBUS - Ohio could become home to as many as 12,200 slot machines under Gov. Ted Strickland's decision to embrace gambling as a way of patching a $3.2 billion hole in the next state budget.

After strongly denouncing the idea of using slot machines to fund government programs, Mr. Strickland dropped his opposition last week. Monday he unveiled his variation of a plan pushed by the Ohio State Racing Commission.

The plan anticipates between 5,600 and 12,200 slot machines at the state's seven horse-racing tracks, including Toledo's Raceway Park. The racing commission had envisioned 14,000 - 2,000 at each track.

The governor's plan would charge each track a $65 million licensing fee that would be paid over the two-year budget cycle.

Between these fees and profits from the state-run machines, the state expects to collect $295.8 million in fiscal year 2010 beginning July 1 and $637.4 million in 2011 for a total of about $933.2 million.

Meanwhile, backers of a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing four Las Vegas-style casinos insist they will proceed to the November ballot, regardless of what lawmakers do with Mr. Strickland's slots proposal.

A group backed by Penn National Gaming, Raceway Park's owner, and Dan Gilbert, co-owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, plans to file petitions before a July 1 deadline to make the Nov. 3 ballot.

The ballot issue calls for up to 5,000 slot machines at each of the casinos in Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.

Toledo's site, proposed to be written into the Ohio Constitution, is on reclaimed industrial land on the riverfront near I-75 and abutting Rossford.

"We haven't had any time to study [the governor's plan],'' said group spokesman Bob Ten-
enbaum. "I don't know yet that there's much to study in terms of detail. We don't think it would have any significant impact on our revenue projections.''

Some lawmakers are questioning whether the governor needs their votes to expand gambling offerings through the Ohio Lottery, considering that he issued an executive order last year permitting electronic Keno in bars and restaurants through the lottery.

"It's not a question that we have explored. That's not what the governor is proposing,'' said Strickland spokesman Amanda Wurst. "This is a framework for consideration by the Legislature to address a $3.2 billion deficit.''

The governor maintains that, unlike the four-casino proposal, lawmakers can directly approve his plan.

The theory is that passage of a constitutional amendment is unneeded because voters have approved the lottery, a theory that is likely to be tested in court.

Tom Smith, public policy director for the Ohio Council of Churches, is counting on Senate President Bill Harris (R., Ashland) to be a firewall against slots. Mr. Harris has taken the position that any slot machine authorization must come from a statewide ballot issue.

"The constitution is nebulous about what kinds of things could be included under the lottery,'' Mr. Smith said. "But just to call them 'video lottery terminals' doesn't change the fact that they're slot machines, Class 3-type gambling.''

Contact Jim Provance at:
jprovance@theblade.com,
or 614-221-0496.

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