OHIO Hagan: Video slots measure to have prescription link

A Senate committee is to vote on the issue today.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A Democratic state senator says he's sure he'll get a scaled-down version of his bill to offer prescription-drug discounts to Ohioans into a proposal to ask voters to authorize video slot machines in the state.
& quot;We're pretty confident, & quot; Sen. Robert F. Hagan, the Youngstown Democrat, said recently.
A Senate panel today will consider legislation that would ask voters, possibly in November, to authorize video slot machines at Ohio's seven horse-racing tracks.
Under the proposal, the state and the race tracks would generally split proceeds from the video slot machines, if they're approved by voters, roughly about $500 million annually.
Under a compromise between majority Republicans and Democrats, 30 percent of the state's take from video-slots would be used to fund college scholarships and 20 percent would be used for primary and secondary school building construction.
The remaining 50 percent of the state's share would be used to fund a prescription drug discount program for Ohioans aged 55 or older with incomes up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, under the compromise.
The compromise video-slots proposal would also create a prescription discount program to help cover Ohioans not eligible for other government or private insurance by using the power of bulk purchasing.
The prescription drug discount provisions are a scaled-down version of Hagan's bill, which has been pending in another Senate committee.
Hagan's original bill would have covered a wider group of the uninsured or underinsured.
& quot;Am I happy that it won't cover what I wanted to originally? No. & quot; said Hagan.
State Sen. Kevin J. Coughlin, a Cuyahoga Falls Republican and the chairman of the State and Local Government & amp; Veterans Affairs Committee, said his panel could vote today on the proposals for video-slots, electronic machines able to play traditional slot games, video poker and even Keno.
Constitutional amendment
The legislation consists of a proposed constitutional amendment asking voters whether to allow video-slots in the state and a bill that would specify how and where the machines would operate.
Coughlin said he doesn't object to placing the issue on the ballot. Coughlin wouldn't say whether he believed he had enough votes to pass the measures, sponsored by state Sen. Louis Blessing, a Cincinnati Republican, and state Sen. Eric D. Fingerhut, a Cleveland Democrat.
Senate President Doug White, a Manchester Republican, said he was unsure whether there were enough votes to pass the video-slots measures on the Senate floor.
According to the secretary of state's office, the Legislature has until Aug. 6 to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the statewide November ballot.