Governor: Senate rejects gambling measure

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Gov. Ted Strickland said Saturday the Republican-controlled Senate rejected his proposal to erase Ohio's $3.2 billion budget deficit, dealing a strong blow to the already diminishing chances the spending plan would be finished on time.

The most crucial component of the Democratic governor's plan would put slot machines at Ohio's seven horse racing tracks to raise an estimated $933 million over the next two years. Strickland said the onus was now on the Senate to suggest how to deal with the nearly $1 billion hole.

"I believe that he (Senate President Bill Harris) and the Senate majority have an obligation to say what taxes they would increase or what services they would further reduce in order to balance the budget," Strickland said in a statement.

A message seeking comment was left with Harris spokeswoman Maggie Ostrowski Saturday.

The impasse further reduced the possibility that the state budget would be passed in time for the next fiscal year to begin July 1. Budget negotiators were scheduled to meet Sunday at 7 p.m.

If lawmakers can't reach a deal, they will have to pass a temporary budget — likely at significantly reduced funding levels — to give themselves more time to negotiate the rest of the two-year plan.

Lawmakers and the governor said they were otherwise making progress on resolving some major disagreements, including how to fund Ohio's kindergarten through 12th grade education system. But the inability to agree on how to plug the deficit threatened to derail negotiations.

Harris has said throughout the week the Senate was unlikely to support Strickland's gambling proposal without first submitting it to voters, who rejected an effort to put slot machines at racetracks at the ballot box in 2006. Harris has said the governor can do it on his own by using his executive power to expand the Ohio Lottery.

Strickland has said the Legislature needs to authorize the slots to put them on firm legal ground and make gaming companies comfortable with forking over large sums of money for operating licenses. He also said the state cannot wait to put the issue on the ballot again because the revenue needs to start flowing long before November to help the budget gap.

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