Ohio Senate favors taking slots to the voters

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Senate on Tuesday proposed allowing voters to decide whether Ohio’s racetracks should have slot machines, but Gov. Ted Strickland said the offer was not “relevant” to resolving a $3.2 billion budget deficit.

Strickland said he appreciated the Republican-led Senate’s specific proposal after he repeatedly criticized it for not offering any alternatives. But the stalemate between the two sides continues a week after the July 1 deadline for the 2010 budget.

Strickland said temporary budgets currently being used as a stopgap measure are costing the state nearly $14 million a week in fees not being collected, federal resources it can’t acquire, and in money being spent on programs the state has already decided to cut or eliminate.

Strickland said he would use his authority to make sure lawmakers stay in Columbus until a deal is reached. He suggested that he could call them into session, and hinted that he had control over their paychecks — although they have already been paid for July.

Strickland is pushing for the Legislature to specifically authorize the slot machines in the two-year budget plan without sending the issue to voters. He supports a House adjustment of his plan that would cause revenue from slots licenses to begin flowing to the state in September.

But the Senate wants the slots proposal on the ballot for both political and legal reasons, saying the $933 million in revenue forecast by the governor’s proposal is already contingent upon the outcome of a separate proposal for a constitutional amendment that would put casinos in four Ohio cities.

First, the Senate argued that the language of the casino amendment would prevent the state from expanding gambling elsewhere.

And second, senators maintain — and some horse-track executives have testified — that the investments for licenses costing $65 million will not be made before the tracks know if they have a monopoly on gambling.

Strickland retorted that the casino amendment has a specific exception for an expansion of the lottery by the state.

And though Republican senators maintain that Strickland’s proposal to authorize slots in the budget would inspire certain legal challenges, and thus delays in itself, the governor said lawmakers could severely limit the length of any legal challenges by requiring any challenges to go straight to the Ohio Supreme Court.

“I think it continues to fall short of the Legislature’s responsibility and obligation to provide for a balanced budget now,” Strickland said. “Any future constitutional amendment is not terribly relevant to our efforts to find the resources necessary to have a balanced budget now.”

The disagreement over gambling has stalled budget negotiations, which had otherwise made progress on big ticket items, including more than $2 billion in cuts to the roughly $54 billion spending plan.

A special Senate committee heard testimony Tuesday from multiple attorneys, who presented their opinions of the complex fabric that is Ohio gambling law.

All sides agree that any gambling proposal will result in a court challenge, but there is widespread disagreement over what is required to best protect against the challenge and get revenue flowing the quickest.

Harris’ letter noted that Strickland, a Democrat, expanded the lottery once before — adding the bingo-style Keno game — without legislative approval or the legal authority he now seeks.

He also outlined a number of concerns about Strickland’s plan, including the fact it would choose some private interests over others and will almost certainly prompt a lawsuit.

But he said the two men, who have been stuck in a high-profile stalemate since June, have many beliefs in common — including being united against tax increases and placing a priority on funding education.

“I would even venture to say that our views about relying on expanded gambling to help close our budget gap are truly not that far apart,” Harris wrote.

Strickland has said the added protections are now necessary because slot machines are not a ticketed game like those allowed under law.