Lawmakers taking an extra week on budget

By Marc Kovac

The stumbling block appears to be the issue of slot machines at racetracks.

COLUMBUS — Lawmakers and Gov. Ted Strickland are giving themselves an extra week to work out their budget differences after the state Senate adopted a continuing resolution authorizing spending through the first seven days of the new fiscal year.

The Senate, on a unanimous vote, also approved Strickland’s use of the state’s rainy-day fund to fill the budget hole remaining in the current fiscal year, which ends today.

The House must adopt the resolution, included in a noncontroversial appropriations bill for the state industrial commission, today, and the governor must sign it to make it official.

Lawmakers and Strickland also indicated they are close to an agreement on most provisions of the spending plan, including education and school-funding reform.

State Rep. Ron Amstutz, a Republican from Wooster and member of the Conference Committee that will finalize negotiations on the budget, said Monday that he was slightly optimistic that a compromise could be reached before the end of the week, leaving the state’s Legislative Service Commission enough time to compile the thousands of pages making up the actual bill.

And Strickland said he and lawmakers should work through the Fourth of July holiday if necessary to come to an agreement.

“We need to stay here and work,” he said. “These are important issues. The stability of our state is at stake. I think we should stay here and work through the weekend. I think working on this budget is more important than participating in a parade or eating hot dogs at an outdoor cookout.”

There remained one significant difference between the sides as of Monday: slot machines at horse-racing tracks.

Strickland has made it clear that his plan to put video lottery terminals at the state’s seven horse tracks must be completed legislatively.

“I think we could solve the budget dilemma by this afternoon if there was a willingness on the part of Sen. [Bill] Harris to bring the [slot] issue to a vote in the Senate,” Strickland said.

But Harris remained firm Tuesday in his stance that the proposal should be implemented by the governor, via executive action comparable to the action he used to add Keno to the state lottery.

“I believe the governor does have the ability to put the [slot machines] in the racetracks,” he said, adding later, “I encourage him to move forward with that plan and stop procrastinating.”

The governor said track owners have indicated they won’t make investments to allow slots at their facilities without legislative approval.

But Harris didn’t buy that argument: “As I recall, the people that were bidding for Keno never came to the Legislature and asked for approval or ask for support,” he said. “They invested millions of dollars on the hope that they could get that contract.”

Strickland also said Harris should allow the issue to be decided by the members of the Republican caucus, five or six of whom would be needed to join the Senate Democrats in order to pass the budget with the slots proposal.

“If this issue were allowed to be brought to the floor of the Senate for a vote, I think we could have the resolution of our budget concerns completed,” he said.

But Harris said Senate Republicans are united behind his stance on the issue.