COLUMBUS Proposal for video slots has big foes

Youngstown's state senator says he's not philosophically against the measure.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A Republican proposal in the Ohio Senate to bring video slot machines to Ohio's racetracks is raising the specter of a confrontation with Gov. Bob Taft, some conservative senators and even religious groups on the issue.
State Sen. Louis W. Blessing Jr., chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he expects to revive and possibly pass out of his committee this coming week a bill that would authorize the electronic gaming machines at racetracks as a way to generate revenue for the state.
Addition of the machines would add $500 million to the state's coffers annually, said Blessing, a Cincinnati Republican and the bill's sponsor.
"If we don't do this, you're going to have drastic cuts or the dirty word -- tax increases," Blessing said.
Under Blessing's bill, which was still being recrafted, the proceeds from the VLTs would go to the lottery commission and would be used for education.
Blessing said he has scheduled a possible committee vote this coming week.
Budget problem
Some state officials have predicted that the two-year state budget that must be in place by July 1 is already facing an unspecified deficit which must be addressed. Blessing and others see video slots as a way to bring additional revenue to the state without additional taxes.
But the idea is opposed by Taft, a Republican. Taft has threatened a veto a proposal for video slot machines if it's passed by the Legislature, Taft spokesman Joe Andrews said.
"He doesn't want to see VLTs at racetracks," Taft Chief of Staff Brian K. Hicks said of the governor.
The measure could also face opposition from some conservative state senators.
"I am very adamantly opposed to that idea," said state Sen. Ron Amstutz, a Wooster Republican.
"I view it to be directly opposed to the economic strategy of the state," said Amstutz. "That would be anti-economic development."
"It would produce relatively low-paying jobs and it would degrade, over time, our quality of life," he added.
Amstutz added that he would campaign against any proposal to bring video slot machines to the state.
Blessing said he expects to gain some Democratic support for the measure if it makes it to the Senate floor.
State Sen. Gregory L. DiDonato, a Dennison Democrat and the Senate's minority leader, said he's looking to see what's in the revised proposal, but that he and others in his caucus might support it.
"The devil's in the details," DiDonato said.
"There are members on our side that are friendly to this, including myself, but until I see what the benefits are ... we're kind of stymied."
Hagan's stance
State Sen. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd, said he wasn't philosophically against the measure.
Bringing video slot machines to racetracks was among the proposals advocated by Hagan's brother, Timothy F. Hagan, during his unsuccessful Democratic bid for governor this year.
"I'm certainly willing to consider the legislation," Hagan said.
He said that there are some from his area, the Mahoning Valley, that travel to gaming destinations in West Virginia and elsewhere right now and that this might be a way to recapture some of that money for Ohio.
"I don't like to see that money drain," Hagan said.
Aside from the governor and some senators, the proposal will face opposition from religious groups.
Video slot machines are "highly addictive, so it will increase the numbers of problem gamblers in this state," the Rev. John Edgar, chair of the anti-gambling task force for the United Method Church of Ohio.
"Once you become addicted, if somebody doesn't stop you, you'll end up stealing money," Edgar said.
"It's horrible public policy," said Edgar. His group is also working with the Ohio Council of Churches, which represents about 3.5 million Christians statewide, he said.
Edgar said he fears that an expansion of the state's role in gambling might lead to other problems such as loan-sharking, prostitution and political corruption.
If the bill passes the Legislature and survives Taft's threatened veto, Edgar promised a campaign to place the measure on the statewide ballot.
Twice in the 1990s, voters rejected proposals to legalize casino gambling in the state. If this proposal passes the Senate, it still must go to the House.