Anti-Casino Lawmakers Still Fighting Ohio Voter Results

It was not enough that voters in the state of Ohio have already spoken on the casino issue. Now, four Republican lawmakers want to throw the statewide vote out the window and let individual cities votes on the legality of casino gambling.

Representatives Cheryl Grossman and Kevin Bacon, and Senators Jim Hughes and David Goodman are backing a constitutional amendment question on the ballot for May. The amendment would allow local cities to ban the casinos from their area.

The resolution is similar to what the state of Illinois has done regarding their video gambling laws. The Governor signed a law that allows video gambling in Illinois, but also gave individual towns the right to ban the machines during a grace period.

Many of the towns in Illinois have followed through on their right to ban the machines. Other towns are moving forward with allowing the machines in their jurisdictions. In Ohio, the voters just had their say in the issue at the beginning of the month.

Voters have long been opposed to casinos in Ohio, but this time around it was different. many voters had lost their jobs, and they do not want to pay higher taxes. That led a majority of voters to vote for casinos to help with the economy in the state.

Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo residents are in favor of the casinos being built in their areas, but some Columbus residents have shown resistance towards the idea. The chance of the amendment question reaching the ballot are small, with three fifths of lawmakers needed to pass the question on to voters.

November 25, 2009
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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