Ohio court rules — 09/22/09 » Editorials » Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

Editorials

Discussion

September 21, 2009

Ohio court rules — 09/22/09

The message: Let state’s voters decide fate of slots at tracks

Anonymous The Daily Independent Mon Sep 21, 2009, 05:59 PM EDT

A ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court Monday should send a clear message to legislators in neighboring Kentucky: Abandon the idea of placing video slot machines at race tracks in the state without the approval of voters in a statewide referendum. The odds of the courts turning thumbs down to expanded gambling without the approval of voters are just too great.

On Saturday, we stated in this space that expanded gambling in neighboring Ohio remained far from a sure bet despite Gov. Ted Strickland’s executive order allowing video slot machines at the state’s seven race tracks. In Monday’s lopsided 6-1 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court proved just how uncertain the future of expanded gambling in Ohio is by ruling in favor of a group that seeks to place the issue of slot machines at race tracks on the November 2010 ballot.

LetOhioVote.org is a committee of three private citizens that petitioned to place the issue of video slots on the 2010 ballot, but Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner rejected its petitions. The Ohio Supreme Court Monday ordered Brunner to accept the group’s petitions, allowing the referendum process to go forward. The ruling could well place the expansion of gambling at race tacks on hold until after the November 2010 election — or beyond that if Ohio voters reject the proposal.

It also should cause legislators in Kentucky — led by Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg — to abandon efforts to allow slot machines at race tracks in Kentucky without the approval of voters in a statewide referendum. The Kentucky House of Representatives earlier this year narrowly approved a bill that would have placed slot machines at tracks without a referendum, but the bill died without a vote in the Kentucky Senate.

While the state constitutions in Ohio and Kentucky are slightly different, elected officials in both states have offered the same argument for allowing slot machines at race tracks without a vote by the people: The slot machines were approved by voters in Ohio and in Kentucky when they approved their state lotteries.

While we can’t speak for the lottery referendum in Ohio, slot machines at race tracks or anywhere else in Kentucky were never discussed during the debate that led to voter approval in November of 1988 of an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution that established the state lottery. We’re convinced that voters believed they were approving just the type of lottery games that have been in place in Kentucky since April of 1989 — and nothing more.

In Ohio, Monday’s high court decision has the potential of throwing the state budget off balance by nearly $1 billion. In approving the state’s budget, the Ohio legislature projected the video lottery terminals would generate $850 million to $933 million for public schools during the first year. Because of Monday’s ruling, the revenue could fall to zero, forcing Strickland and legislators to make more spending cuts.

That’s Ohio’s problem, but if Kentucky legislators ignore the ruling in Columbus and approve a law that establishes video slot machines at race tracks without a referendum, it could easily become a problem in Kentucky. Such a law would be challenged in court, and if Ohio is any indication, that challenge would be successful.

The 2010 Kentucky General Assembly should put the issue of video lottery terminals on the November 2010 ballot and let the voters decide the issue. Our position has not changed in the last five years: Expanded gambling in Kentucky — be it casinos or slot machines — requires approval of the state’s voters.

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

Ohio court rules — 09/22/09

The message: Let state’s voters decide fate of slots at tracks

Site Map

Contact Us