Compromise Could Bring Slots to Ohio Tracks

After a 13-day impasse, the Ohio legislature yesterday rocketed a new state budget to the governor that Democrats say makes the best of a bad economic hand dealt to the state but Republicans say is a gamble that won't pay off.

The bill allows Gov. Ted Strickland to add electronic video slot machines at Ohio's seven horse-racing tracks, proposed to be operational by May, to help balance the budget with $2.5 billion in spending cuts but without raising taxes.

Almost no one on either side of the partisan divide liked the finished product -- Republicans supplied just six votes, including five needed in the Senate for passage. But last night, Strickland hailed an end to the rancorous standoff.

"Our people and our businesses are struggling to stay afloat in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression," the governor said in a statement. "This budget protects them from tax increases they simply cannot afford."

For the complete story, please see Mark Niquette and Joe Hallett, Final bill passes with wealth of grumbling, The Columbus Dispatch, July 14, 2009.