Coming to Ohio? — 06/24/09 » Editorials » Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

Editorials

Discussion

June 23, 2009

Coming to Ohio? — 06/24/09

Buckeye State considering what Kentucky just rejected

Anonymous The Daily Independent Tue Jun 23, 2009, 04:34 PM EDT

While the placement of video slot machines at race tracks is now a dead issue in Kentucky, neighboring Ohio is moving forward with a proposal to place slot machines at its race tracks.

While Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister, is far from being an enthusiastic supported of expanded gambling in the Buckeye State, he at least has dropped his opposition to slot at tracks. Why the change of heart? With the state facing a $3.2 billion deficit budget, the governor sees expanded gambling as a rather painless and completely voluntary way of raising additional funds of the state without introducing gambling to new locations.

Strickland estimates Ohio would gain $933 million over the next two years from the lottery-run slots, a figure Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst calls “reasonable, even conservative.”

The move for expanded gambling in Ohio was used by the Kentucky racing industry as an argument in support of the now-dead bill to allow slot machines at Kentucky tracks. Obviously, the more states on Kentucky’s borders allowing casino-type gambling, the less lucrative expanded gambling would be in Kentucky.

Revenue from slot machines in West Virginia dropped 1.6 percent immediately after Pennsylvania introduced slot machines at race tracks. This year, revenue from slot terminals at West Virginia’s tracks are down about 7 percent from projections for the fiscal year ending June 30.

There is a major difference between what Ohio is trying to do and the gambling bill that just died in the Kentucky Senate. Many in Kentucky — including this newspaper — believe that voter approval of a constitutional amendment is required to place slot machines at tracks in Kentucky. In Ohio, the law is clear that the legislature can approve a bill to expand gambling without a vote of the people.

If the Ohio legislature does approve slot machines at tracks, the pressure for Kentucky to do the same will be that much greater.

Text Only

Editorials

Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.

May 26, 2012
Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.

May 25, 2012
After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.

May 24, 2012
A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.

May 23, 2012
Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.

May 22, 2012
A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.

May 22, 2012
Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.

May 21, 2012
A real rush job
By giving first reading approval to two identical ordinances creating the Northeast Regional Jail Authority, elected leaders in Boyd and Carter counties are reviving a 30-year-old political issue — only this time with different results.

May 20, 2012
KCTC leads way
The ability of Kentucky to compete with other states and the rest of the world for the good jobs of tomorrow keeps improving by degrees.

May 19, 2012
Slow decline?
Louisville’s Churchill Downs is seeing its shortest spring meets since 1975, and some owners, trainers and breeders fear they could get even shorter. That is unless the Kentucky General Assembly has a change of heart and gives the home of the Kentucky Derby the option of increasing its nonracing revenue by offering new forms of gambling.

May 18, 2012
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Discussion

Coming to Ohio? — 06/24/09

Buckeye State considering what Kentucky just rejected

Site Map

Contact Us