OHIO Taft refuses to back casino without a vote
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Despite calls from those trying to bring a casino to Youngstown, Gov. Bob Taft said he won't support casino gambling in Ohio without a vote of the people.
"I've expressed my opposition to casino gambling, especially opposition to any proposal that doesn't have the approval of the voters of Ohio," Taft said. "It needs to be on the ballot."
The Casino for Youngstown Committee, which contends that a casino would bring significant economic development benefits, is seeking Taft's support for an Indian gaming casino for the Mahoning Valley.
Tribe interested: The committee has been in contact with representatives of the Wyandotte tribe, reportedly interested in opening a casino.
But to do that, the group says, it needs to get the approval of the governor. State law doesn't permit casinos.
Taft won't budge unless the voters of Ohio decide the issue first.
Twice in the 1990s, voters rejected proposals to legalize casino gambling in the state, according to gambling opponents.
"I wouldn't be taking any action on casino gambling unless the voters approve it," Taft, a Republican, said recently from the governor's residence in suburban Columbus.
Backers of the idea to bring a casino to the Mahoning Valley say a casino would employ about 2,000 people and would be an engine of economic development in the hard-hit area.
Backers estimate gross revenues from video lottery terminals at between $20 million and $40 million per year, about 8 percent of which would go to the state.
Two percent would go to local communities, backers say.
Past opposition: In the past, Taft has opposed legislative ideas to install so-called VLTs at Ohio's racetracks to generate more money for the state budget and for funding public schools.
According to the group's Web site, Indian casinos are in at least 29 states. People from the Youngstown area travel to Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in West Virginia, the group said.
State Rep. Kenneth A. Carano of Austintown, D-65th, said he, for one, would welcome the possibility of an Indian casino in Youngstown.
"I would love for the opportunity if any organization can find a way of doing it legally where we can be the test case for the state of Ohio," Carano said. "I would love to support it."
"The truth is the gambling situation ... all the other states surrounding [Ohio] are getting deeper and stronger in it," Carano said. "It will surround Ohio," Carano said. "We are losing all of the tax dollars. It's a shame."
Carano said the presence of a casino in Youngstown would be an economic boon to the area.
"Don't get me wrong; I understand some people's belief that it would be bad morally, but the fact of the matter is it's a form of entertainment that people in the state of Ohio use everywhere else," Carano said.
Sending messages: Supporters of a Youngstown casino are asking others to send messages to Taft during early February to urge the governor's support of the idea. Committee members couldn't immediately be reached Friday.
Religious opposition: Several religious organizations have opposed the expansion of legalized gambling in Ohio.
The Rev. John Edgar, chairman of the Anti-Gambling Task Force of the United Methodist Church and the Ohio Council of Churches, said his organization would oppose any attempt to legalize casino gambling in the state.
Twice in the 1990s, voters have rejected attempts to legalize some form of casino gambling, Edgar said.
"It would be extremely harmful to Ohio families, particularly within the two-to-three hour radius of where this would be located," Edgar said.
Edgar called VLTs "the most addictive form of gambling in the world."