Plans for slots, casinos in Ohio gain strength

Pro-gambling forces betting on rotten economy to help get issue passed.

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By William Hershey  and Laura A. Bischoff, Staff Writers Updated 6:51 AM Friday, June 26, 2009

Last November, when unemployment was a still tolerable 7.1 percent, Ohio voters said a loud “no” to a casino proposed for Wilmington in Clinton County, defeating the plan 62-38 percent.

But unemployment is now 10.8 percent, highest in more than 25 years. Since November, another 221,200 Ohioans have joined the jobless.

Backers of a new plan to put casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo are counting on that rotten economy to help them win this Nov. 3.

On Thursday, June 25, they filed petitions with about 850,000 signatures — more than double the required 402,275 — with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. She now will send the petitions to county boards of election to verify the signatures. Her deadline for ruling on whether there are enough signatures is July 21.

“I think the economy’s a big factor. The economy is different and that’s going to make our job easier than the past plan,” said Charlie Luken, former Cincinnati mayor and chairman of The Ohio Jobs & Growth Plan, the committee behind the casinos.

Luken said the plan would create 20,000 new jobs, generate $1 billion in capital investment, provide the state with $200 million for job training and workforce development and produce $651 million in taxes annually, mostly for counties, local school districts and Ohio’s eight largest cities, including Dayton.

But Tom Smith, public policy director for the Ohio Council of Churches, said voters won’t be fooled.

“Their actions and their proposal are immoral,” he said.

Penn National Gaming of Wyomissing, Pa. and Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, are financial backers.

Ohio voters have rejected four gambling proposals since 1990. Although Ohio has the lottery, including Keno, and racetracks, the state remains a kind of anti-gambling island surrounded by other states with glittery casinos and high-stakes wagering.

For that to change, the public will have to look to gambling as a lesser evil.

“The bad economy could lead some people to vote for casinos that have not done so in the past on the grounds that casinos will generate jobs and pay taxes,” political scientist John Green said in an e-mail.

In the past, however, those appeals haven’t been enough, said Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.

The key, said Green, is how much opposition develops. The Ohio Council of Churches and the Ohio Roundtable, a Cleveland-area anti-gambling organization, oppose the casinos. Both groups also oppose the slots.

David Zanotti, president of the Ohio Roundtable, said his group will sue to stop the slots if they end up in the state budget to help fill a $3.2 billion hole by generating an estimated $933 million.

“My guess is we’ll tie them up in court long enough that they won’t see a penny of the revenue projections,” Zanotti said.

Strickland, too, opposes casinos. But ironically, his support for the slots could help the casinos, said Green.

“If the governor’s plan for slots passes into law, it could help the casino effort by further breaking down barriers to gambling in the state,” he said. “Of course, racetracks with slot machines might decide to oppose the casinos to protect their new opportunity.”

Penn National Gaming owns Raceway Park in Toledo and appears to be supporting both efforts. The track Web site implores viewers to urge state senators to back the slots in the budget.

“As the owner of Raceway Park, we also recognize the benefits it (the slots proposal) would provide the racetracks,” Eric Schippers, Penn National senior vice president, said in an e-mail.

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