Gov. Ted Strickland to authorize slots to break budget stalemate

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland will sign an executive order to authorize racetrack slots as part of a compromise with legislative leaders to break a budget stalemate.

In turn, lawmakers will include language in the $54 billion, two-year budget that clarifies the Ohio Lottery’s authority to implement video lottery terminals and establishes rules for their operation. The parties involved announced the deal in a news release this afternoon.

Strickland and fellow Democrats in the House have been locked in an impasse with the GOP-led Senate. Two interim budgets were required for the first time in 18 years.

The slots plan will raise an estimated $933 million to help fill a $3.2 billion budget deficit.