VIDEO SLOT MACHINES Ohio lawmaker to reintroduce issue

Ohio voters may get a chance to vote on the VLT issue.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A key legislative backer of placing video lottery terminals at Ohio's horse racetracks says he expects the issue to be at the forefront again in the next Legislature that will be seated next month.
State Sen. Louis W. Blessing Jr., the Cincinnati Republican who sponsored the bill that would have expanded legalized gambling in the state, said state lawmakers will be hard pressed to find additional revenue to bolster the state's sagging budget.
"Next session we're going to have a tough budget. I'm going to throw the idea out there and we'll see," Blessing said Tuesday. New members are to be sworn in in early January for the next two-year legislative session.
Blessing sponsored a bill in this session that would have authorized the state lottery commission to set up video slot machines -- machines that could play games such as slots, poker, blackjack, keno and bingo -- at Ohio's seven horse-racing tracks.
Backers estimated that the plan would have brought in at least $500 million a year in additional revenue to the state.
The bill perished in the Senate, however, amid threats of a veto from Republican Gov. Bob Taft and possible opposition from conservative senators in his own party.
Feared veto
Blessing said he feared that even if the Legislature passed the bill during the lame-duck session, Taft would simply wait 10 days before vetoing the measure.
By that time, many lawmakers would have been away for the holidays and unable to be recalled to possibly override a gubernatorial veto, he added.
A three-fifths vote in each chamber of the Legislature is required to override a veto.
Bills passed by the Legislature that go unsigned by the governor for 10 days become law.
Blessing said he plans either to introduce a bill that would authorize the state to push forward on its own authority or to try to place the issue before the voters possibly as a constitutional amendment.
A three-fifths majority in both legislative chamber is required to place a constitutional amendment before the voters.
Some state officials have said that the next two-year state budget that must be in place by July 1 is facing an unspecified deficit. Backers of video slot machines see the bill as a way to bring additional revenue to the state without additional taxes.
Wants voters to decide
House Speaker Larry Householder, a Glenford Republican, said he would prefer to see a push to bring video slot machines to the state brought before the voters.
A move to bring video slot machines to Ohio without a vote of the people would be problematic, he added.
State Sen. Bill M. Harris, the vice chairman of the Senate's budget-writing Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, agreed the issue should be placed before the voters.
Harris, an Ashland County Republican, said that he didn't personally support the expansion of state-sponsored gambling but that voters should have the opportunity to make up their own minds.
Twice in the 1990s, Ohio voters rejected proposals to legalize casino gambling in the state.
Mary Anne Sharkey, a spokeswoman for Taft, said the governor will continue to oppose proposals for video slot machines if they emerge next year. Taft also is expected to campaign against any proposal to place video slot machines on the state ballot.
"He just doesn't believe it's sound economic policy for the state," Sharkey said.