Casino advocates (again) roll out ballot proposals

COLUMBUS — Casino advocates have approached Ohio leaders with competing proposals for full-scale gambling sites, pitching them as an ideal way to increase revenue in the face of a projected $7 billion deficit.

A lobbyist for the gaming company behind Toledo’s Raceway Park discussed its plan with Gov. Ted Strickland’s staff and Senate President Bill Harris last week.

A draft memo obtained by The Columbus Dispatch shows that Penn National Gaming has a proposal to build casinos at Ohio’s seven racetracks and at stand-alone sites in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus.

The Pennsylvania-based company would like lawmakers to sponsor a ballot measure for voters to consider in November, the Dispatch reported on Saturday.

The two Cleveland-area developers behind that proposal are preparing a signature-gathering effort to place their own ballot measure on this coming November’s ballot. Their plan would also build casinos in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, and possibly in Toledo and Youngstown, as well.

Read more in Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com