Voinovich says Ohio will lose if it plays the slots

Thursday, 31 August 2006

By TOM JACKSON
tomjackson@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, says if gambling on slot machines is legalized in Ohio, Erie County will suffer because families will have less money to spend on Cedar Point.

The senator, a longtime gambling foe, met with editors and reporters at The Sandusky Register Tuesday to explain why he opposes Ohio Learn and Earn, a proposal to legalize slot machine play at two downtown Cleveland locations and seven horse racing tracks. The proposal would earmark the resulting state revenues to pay for college scholarships.

Backers say the proposal would raise about $1 billion a year for scholarships and would also provide funds to Ohio counties for economic development.

On Wednesday, the Ohio Secretary of State's office announced that the proposal had fallen 8,716 signatures short in its effort to go on the Nov. 7 ballot. Backers have 10 additional days, however, to gather more signatures.

"We're very confident we'll be on the ballot this fall," said Linda Siefkas, a spokeswoman for the gambling initiative.

Voinovich said he believes the proposals will hurt Erie County's economy and dump the additional expense of treating problem gamblers on Erie County's taxpayers.

Money spent on gambling means that families will have less disposable income for other purposes, such as coming to Erie County to enjoy the rides at Cedar Point or the waterparks, Voinovich argued.

He said he's used that argument to try to recruit Richard Kinzel, Cedar Fair's CEO, to oppose Learn and Earn.

"He knows if this thing passes, he will have fewer customers," Voinovich said.

Lee Alexakos, corporate vice president of marketing and advertising at Cedar Fair, said her company does not support any plan which leaves out Sandusky.

"For economic reasons, we would not support any plan that does not include Cedar Point," Alexakos said.

The company isn't a proponent of gambling, but if it were legalized in Ohio, it would want to offer it locally, she said.

"It complements the entertainment options already available in the area. It gives people another reason to visit," she said.

Alexakos said she doubts her company will campaign actively against the slots measure.

"We just monitor and review the issues," she said.

Voinovich said even proponents admit the proposal would create 109,000 new problem gamblers in Ohio. He said the plan would drain $2.3 billion from Ohio's economy, which could be spent in more productive ways.

Siefkas said backers of the plan believe the scholarship money will give every Ohio child a chance to go to college despite tuition costs that have soared in the state.

"What this really does is give people a chance to create a future for themselves and their children," she said.

Legalizing the slots would hardly be Ohio's first venture into gambling. The state has horse racing tracks, and a state lottery program heavily advertised on TV and radio. The lottery program was in place while Voinovich served as governor for two terms during the 1990s.

Voinovich said he opposed the lottery as a state representative but said the Ohio Legislature is used to the revenues it generates and that getting rid of it would have been too difficult. He said that as governor, a new program was set up to help problem gamblers.

Just because the lottery is bad public policy "is not a reason for us to compound the problem," he said.

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