Issue could threaten casinos in Ohio

By JAMES NASH

The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio horse tracks are exploring the idea of going back to the ballot with a proposal for slot machines, which could hold up the opening of the state’s four future casinos.

The state’s seven tracks want to secure authorization to add thousands of video slot machines by amending the language of the bill regulating the casinos, said C. David Paragas, the tracks’ lobbyist.

Gov. Ted Strickland signed the regulations into law Thursday. Supporters of the tracks would have 90 days from then to gather enough valid signatures of registered Ohio voters — 241,365 — to put the law on hold pending a referendum.

“I’m not saying that we’re going for it or not,” Paragas said Monday.

The tracks would aim for the November 2011 ballot. If they gather enough signatures, they would put on hold provisions of the casino-implementation bill, which would result in the casinos themselves opening behind schedule, Paragas said. Current plans call for a temporary casino to open in Cleveland next summer, and casinos in Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo in 2012.

The developer of the Columbus and Toledo casinos, Penn National Gaming Inc., supports slot machines at racetracks. Penn owns a racetrack in Toledo and is purchasing Beulah Park in Grove City. The other casino developer, Dan Gilbert, is publicly neutral on the idea.

Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for both casino developers, declined to comment on the prospect of a new ballot measure slowing the four casinos. Tenenbaum called the possibility ‘way, way too speculative.’

The Ohio tracks joined forces in 2006 for a failed ballot measure that would have allowed slot machines.

Since then, their financial situation has become even more perilous, Paragas said.

“The tracks are beleaguered,” he said. “We are compromised financially.”

Strickland proposed lottery-run slot machines at horse tracks last summer, but the effort was put on hold after another group persuaded the Supreme Court to allow a referendum.

The group, LetOhioVote.org, won approval to put its issue on this November’s ballot, meaning last year’s slots measure is on hold until the vote.