Slots plan pays for tuition

If approved, voters could see the amendment on the ballot in March 2004.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Majority Senate Republicans are resurrecting a plan to place video slot machines at horse-racing tracks in the state, with the latest version funding Ohio college scholarships for high-performing Ohio students.
"I want to provide a significant scholarship to as many students as possible," said state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, a Cuyahoga Falls Republican and chairman of the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee.
Coughlin said he expects the committee to hold a hearing and possibly vote on the latest plan on Wednesday.
Pending before the committee will be a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing the placement of video slot machines at horse racetracks and a bill covering how they are to be operated.
If approved by the Senate and the House, the proposed constitutional amendment would be before Ohio voters this coming March, Coughlin said.
"You've got a huge increase in the price of tuition over the last couple of years that has priced a lot of people out of a college education," Coughlin said Monday.
"You've got folks who are good students and are already leaving the state to go somewhere else," Coughlin said. "This is essential to making sure the brightest minds stay in Ohio."
How it would work
Under the plan, the racetracks would keep about half of the proceeds generated by the video lottery terminals, Coughlin said.
Much of the portion the state would keep would be earmarked for scholarships to Ohio private or public colleges, Coughlin said. Any leftover proceeds would go to public school construction.
While the criteria is still being fine-tuned, Coughlin said the students would have to be in a still-to-be-determined top percentile of their graduating classes in Ohio public high schools to be eligible for the proposed scholarships.
"We're looking at a plan that would provide a scholarship that's renewable up to four years," Coughlin said.
Legislative researchers are looking at funding the scholarships at the average tuition price at a state university, about $5,300 annually, he said.
Earlier version
A previous version of the video slot-machine plan stalled in the Senate earlier this year after a dispute over what the plan would pay for.
Minority Democrats wanted part of the state's proceeds -- estimated at $200 million to $600 million a year -- to go for prescription-drug discounts for senior citizens.
Republicans had wanted the proceeds to go for school-facilities and college scholarships.
Word of a prescription drug-discount bill negotiated between labor organizations and drug manufacturers that will be pending in the Legislature potentially frees up money in the video slot-machine legislation, Senate Republicans say.
Coughlin said he's optimistic about getting the video slot-machine legislation through the Senate, but that it will require Democratic votes.
But at least one Democratic senator said she has concerns.
"Conceptually, I have a problem with the purpose we're doing it for, in that we're doing it to raise money for the state," said state Sen. Kimberly Zurz, a Democrat from Green.
Senate Minority Leader Gregory L. DiDonato of Dennison said he believes about half of the Senate's 11 Democrats may vote for the video slot-machine legislation, depending on what the proceeds are to be used for. Many Senate Democrats would prefer the proceeds to be used for college scholarships exclusively, DiDonato said.
There are 22 Republicans in the 33-member chamber.