Lawmakers postpone budget attempt

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Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)

COLUMBUS (AP) — Lawmakers scrambling to reach a budget deal canceled a meeting planned for Sunday, reflecting a continuing stalemate over the issue of slot machine gambling and casting serious doubt on their ability to meet a July 1 deadline.

The meeting was rescheduled for today, leaving almost no time for lawmakers to reach a deal that could be voted on and signed by the governor. The possibility of lawmakers’ having to pass a temporary budget to fund government at reduced levels for at least a few days looms heavily.

The dispute over Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s gambling proposal has overshadowed all other negotiations on the roughly $54 billion spending plan, which must be trimmed by $3.2 billion to account for an expected drop in revenue.

Senate President Bill Harris believes Strickland can use his executive authority to bring the slot machines to Ohio’s seven race tracks and raise an estimated $933 million for the budget. But Strickland reiterated Sunday that he needs legislative approval to put the proposal on solid legal ground and to give confidence to the gambling industry that Ohio is a safe investment.

With the Senate’s refusal to touch the gambling proposal, lawmakers will likely have to turn to erasing the budget deficit solely with cuts — all sides have said a tax increase would harm the economy further.

Strickland said it’s up to the Senate, now that it has rejected his proposal, to come up with an alternative way to cut the $933 million from the budget.