Strickland is counting on video lottery terminals to bring in $933 million to fill a massive budget shortfall, 10TV's John Fortney reported.

With the new state budget billions of dollars in the red, Strickland reversed himself on gambling and, with the help of Democrats, passed video slots at horse tracks as part of the budget bill.

"The budget we passed in July utilized additional revenue that didn't burden Ohio families," said Kerry McCarthy, the Ohio House Democratic caucus spokesman.

The 6-1 Supreme Court ruling in favor of LetOhioVote.org stays the video lottery expansion at the racetracks and the extra $1 billion in projected revenue, Fortney reported.

"The court ruling today really has some serious impacts - not only for our budget - but for families across the state," McCarthy said.

Senate Republicans issued statements, essentially telling Strickland that the budget is adrift at sea and is waiting on gambling to bail the state out, Fortney reported.

"This is like a double-barreled shotgun blast at the governor on both the budget as well as the gaming plan," said Terry Casey, a political expert and gambling consultant.

The Let Ohio Vote group that won the court case claimed that it is not against gambling and understood the potential hit to the state's budget.

"The court answered that question, I think, succinctly," said Gene Pierce, of LetOhioVote.org.  "They said they were not unmindful of the issues.  This would create, as far as the budget is concerned, but there's a bigger issue involved and that's the public's right to vote."

The video slots plan still faces two other lawsuits.  Democrats called on Republicans to work together in reviewing the potential impact of the ruling of the budget.

The history of video slots in Ohio dates back to 2001 when a Senate joint resolution would have placed video slots at all seven of the state's racetracks.  The issue never made it to the ballot.

Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for continuing coverage.

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