One possibility that House leaders are talking about in the upcoming budget battle appears to be electronic slot machines at Ohio’s seven horseracing tracks. Those machines were proposed as a solution to Ohio’s budget crisis a year ago, but a citizens’ group mounted a petition drive to stop that. In a year-end interview with Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler, outgoing Democratic Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) said he hopes the incoming majority will consider that idea.
Incoming Republican Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-Medina) was also part of that interview, and said he thinks there may be support for electronic slot machines at horseracing tracks. But Batchelder admits he’s not certain, because there will be – as he put it – "a lot of new people in the House." You can see the full interview with Budish and Batchelder on “The State of Ohio” on PBS stations this weekend. |
