Many state lawmakers said that slots at Ohio's horse tracks was a bad idea for a long time but now the economy has a bipartisan plan coming down the stretch in a budget facing a $3 billion deficit.
The controversial plan is looking like a key part of the plan to bail out the next two-year budget, 10TV's John Fortney reported.
"When you're looking at very onerous cuts to children's mental health and to libraries and things like that -- for someone to say, 'I'm not going to allow slots,' -- that means they're telling me and their constituents that they're willing to make these cuts," said Republican Ohio Rep. Lou Blessing of Hamilton County.
Democrat Ohio Rep. Todd Book, who worked on drafting a bill with Blessing, said that their original plan has changed.
"What we're looking at now is about 2,500 slots per track at a license fee of around $50 million," Book said.
The budget needs to be passed by July 1. The slot plan for horse tracks will not come in the form of a bill. It will be part of the overall budget discussion in a conference committee, Fortney reported.
The Ohio Council of Churches is not happy about the plan because there is no individual accountability per elected official. It's either an up or down vote on the budget and not on slots, Fortney reported.
"We're particularly upset with the way they want to put it into the conference committee without any opportunity for the people to speak without a chance for the people to vote," said Tom Smith of the Ohio Council of Churches.
Ohioans have voted down casino gambling four times since 1990 but some lawmakers believe this is a different issue.
"The votes where it's failed have included casinos - not slots at tracks - so it's a big difference," Blessing said.
If slots become part of the overall budget bill, the expansion would be handled by the Ohio Lottery.
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