COLUMBUS | Gambling interests bet more than
$1 million on Ohio lawmakers and political parties in the past three
years, according to Ohio Citizen Action.
Since 1999, all candidates received $349,143, with House Speaker
Larry Householder collecting $38,550, Citizen Action reported.
Political party committees received $685,926, it said. Even Gov. Bob
Taft, a vocal opponent of expanding gambling, received $60,450, the
report said.
Anti-gambling contributions, including the Ohio Roundtable,
totaled $300, Citizen Action said.
Citizen Action, a nonpartisan watchdog group, analyzed campaign
contributions between 1999 and 2002 to see how much the gambling
industry and its proponents have given to members and candidates for
the Ohio General Assembly and to political parties.
The top three organizations giving money to candidates, political
parties and caucus committees:
• Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association,
$152,550.
• Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association, $111,650.
• Northfield Park, a horse racetrack near Cleveland,
$47,568.
Three major donors from Las Vegas gave $554,000 to Ohio’s
Republican National State Elections Committee, which is the Ohio
Republican Party’s federal party fund:
• Stanley Fulton, Anchor Gaming, $500,000.
• Stephen Wynn, former owner of the Mirage and chief
executive of Wynn Resorts, $49,000.
• Larry Ruvo, board member of the American Gaming
Association, $5,000.
Lobbyists who represent the gambling industry gave $142,481.
Lobbyists Neil Clark and Paul Tipps, who advocate for
International Gaming Technology, the world’s leading maker of
gambling machines, contributed $82,038.
"It may not be a coincidence that right after the election, a
video slot machine bill was put on the fast track," said Catherine
Turcer, campaign reform director for Ohio Citizen Action. But the
legislation was knocked off the fast track by strong opposition and
time constraints.
State Sen. Louis Blessing, R-Cincinnati, introduced a bill Nov.
19 to expand gambling in Ohio by putting 14,000 electronic gaming
devices at Ohio’s seven race tracks. The gambling industry and its
backers gave $16,950 to members of the Senate Agriculture Committee,
which is considering the bill.
The bill probably won’t make it through the lame-duck session of
the legislature, but will likely come back next year, Blessing said
last week.
The bill would allow the Ohio Lottery Commission to install
electronic versions of roulette, craps, poker and blackjack at Ohio
race tracks. The lottery commission would buy, maintain and repair
the machines as well as collect 51.5 percent of the proceeds. The
racetracks would receive 37.5 percent of the gross proceeds and 10.5
percent to cover their costs and damages. The games would operate 21
hours a day.
The bill includes an emergency clause to take effect right away,
rather than after 90 days. At least two-thirds of the 99-member
House and 33-member Senate must vote for the bill to pass it as an
emergency.
Blessing’s gambling bill has plenty of opponents: Ohio’s U.S.
Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, state Attorney General Betty
Montgomery, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, state Treasurer
Joe Deters and state Auditor Jim Petro. Taft has said he’ll veto the
measure and try to stop any attempt to override his veto.
In 1990 and 1996, Ohio voters rejected ballot initiatives to
expand gambling.
The following Miami Valley state senators received contributions
from gambling interests:
Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, $850; Jeff Jacobson, R-Butler Twp.,
$1,000; Tom Roberts, D-Trotwood, $1,750, Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, $500;
President Richard Finan, R-Evendale, $3,000; Scott Nein,
R-Middletown, $2,000. The following area state representatives
received contributions: Dixie Allen, D-Dayton, $500; Gary Cates,
R-West Chester, $4,150; Kevin DeWine, R-Fairborn, $2,150; Keith
Faber, R-Celina, $2,750; Jon Husted, R-Kettering, $3,400; Merle
Kearns, R-Springfield, $650; Tom Raga, R-Mason, $4,350; Ron Rhine,
R-Springfield, $300; Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton, $750; and John J.
White, R-Kettering, $300.
The following area legislators received nothing: Reps. Diana
Fessler, R-New Carlisle; Derrick Seaver, D-Minister, and Arlene
Setzer, R-Vandalia.
On the Web
• www.ohiocitizen.org
Contact Laura Bischoff at (614) 224-1624 or
laura_bischoff@coxohio.com
[From the Dayton
Daily News: 12.02.2002]
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