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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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As if the state needed more bad financial news - but it came anyway this week. State officials are projecting that Ohio will have a deficit of at least $600 million for the budget year that ends next month - and it could go as high as $900 million. A sluggish economy and uncertainty over the governor's education plan were among factors that led voters to reject more than a third of the latest round of school tax proposals in Ohio this week. The new Ohio Poll from the University of Cincinnati finds widespread pessimism about the economy and the future. Meanwhile, another poll finds most Ohio voters know little or nothing about Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed rewrite of state education policy.
This fall, for the third time in four years Ohio voters are likely to face the question of whether to expand gambling. Developers who want to bring casinos to four Ohio cities - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo - continue their petition drive to put that onto the ballot. But the owners of Ohio's seven horse racing tracks have also been lobbying state legislators for the legal authority to install thousands of slots, just a few years after trying to get the ok to install other electronic games that were eventually removed and banned. Former state tax commissioner Tom Zaino, now a member of the Ohio State Racing Commission, talks about the plan.
Whenever the issue of whether to expand gambling through slots, games of chance or full-blown casinos comes up, there are many arguments on both sides, and two Republican lawmakers share their thoughts. Sen. Bill Seitz is from Cincinnati and has long supported the idea. Rep. Jay Hottinger of Newark has a different opinion.
This fall, for the third time in four years Ohio voters are likely to face the question of whether to expand gambling. Developers who want to bring casinos to four Ohio cities - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo - continue their petition drive to put that onto the ballot. But the owners of Ohio's seven horse racing tracks have also been lobbying state legislators for the legal authority to install thousands of slots, just a few years after trying to get the ok to install other electronic games that were eventually removed and banned. Former state tax commissioner Tom Zaino, now a member of the Ohio State Racing Commission, talks about the plan.
Whenever the issue of whether to expand gambling through slots, games of chance or full-blown casinos comes up, there are many arguments on both sides, and two Republican lawmakers share their thoughts. Sen. Bill Seitz is from Cincinnati and has long supported the idea. Rep. Jay Hottinger of Newark has a different opinion.
May 8, 2009