Published: September 21, 2009 05:57 pm      

Ohio court rules — 09/22/09

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

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.