Friday, August 07, 2009

Ohio casino update

A week after the Ohio Supreme Court rejected election issue claims of track owner Scioto Downs' to have the Ohio's "casino issue" taken off the ballots in November, the Associated Press reported this morning that a bipartisan political committee has now launched its own campaign, claiming "economic development claims made by the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee to push the casino proposal are overblown, and a plan to allow casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo won't create 34,000 jobs or pay an average of $33,000 per job, as claimed." (Article)

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has an article about Harrah’s Entertainment, the largest casino gambling company in the world's, considering Ohio as its next target now that state leaders have embraced expanded gambling – "and Ohio is poised for a gambling explosion," the paper said. " In addition to the plan for slots at racetracks, a constitutional amendment approved for the November ballot could bring four, full-service casinos to Ohio."


Meanwhile…. The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's office filed a motion to compel the group challenging the authority to authorize the placement of slot machines at the state's seven race tracks, to respond to its discovery requests and make records of contributions & expenses available. In its response, filed this morning, LetOhioVote said in part that, “the discovery (sought) has no bearing on the constitutional issue before the Court… determining whether Relators are supported by 'individuals and entities whose goal is to install casino in the State of Ohio'-has absolutely no bearing on Relators' standing or whether the General Assembly has improperly denied Ohioans their constitutional referendum right."

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