COLUMBUS — As state leaders previously opposed to gambling struggled to balance an ailing state budget, lobbyists representing gambling interests swarmed the Ohio Statehouse promising that money from their devices would help plug the deficit.

Legislative records reviewed by the Associated Press show racetracks, lottery vendors, casino developers, bowling alleys and tavern game operators all are among those who peddled plans to Gov. Ted Strickland, other executive agencies or to legislative leaders.

Those who lobbied hardest appear to have been heard.

Lobbying activity reports filed with Legislative Inspective General Tony Bledsoe, for example, show that representatives of Mountaineer Gaming, owners of the Scioto Down horse track in Columbus, and Intralot, the lottery vendor that would benefit from Strickland’s racetrack slots proposal, were actively lobbying the governor in the first quarter of this year.

One of Mountaineer’s lobbyists is Kimberly I. Redfern, wife of state Democratic chairman Chris Redfern. Intralot has a dozen registered lobbyists, including Neil Clark, a former Senate finance director.

The Ohio Legacy Fund, a consortium of the Ohio horse tracks, is represented by Alan Melamed, a close friend and adviser to House Speaker Armond Budish.

As the budget crisis worsened, Strickland ultimately reversed his previous opposition to racetrack slots run by the Ohio Lottery as a way to raise $933 million toward a $3.2 billion deficit. Likewise, lobbyists who favored gambling expansion outside Ohio’s seven horse tracks were bending Harris’ ear in impassioned personal pleas and e-mails.

“While adding gaming at racetracks helps to save racetrack jobs, it does nothing to help jobs at local bars and taverns and those businesses that serve them,” Philip Craig, of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, wrote on June 22.
Craig also represents the Ohio Coin Machine Association, which has lobbied for certain kinds of coin-operated video games in bars and other establishments.

“Please think this through, Senator,” wrote Frank Ruggerie, of the Bowling Centers Association of Ohio, in a June 25 e-mail. “You are opening the door for out of state syndicates and conglomerates but closing it to your own small businesses. Eventually, our whole economy will feel these repercussions — and they won’t be positive ones.”

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.