Home Rule In Ohio?

For those who are drawn to longshots, a bipartisan push from a pair of state legislators in Ohio’s Franklin County, home of Columbus, is worth attention

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A democratic state representative and a republican senator propose to allow individual counties to opt out of the constitutional amendment passed by a 53-47 margin statewide to allow casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.

Their proposal comes in a county that rejected that amendment by a 58 to 42 margin, and where the mayor of Columbus strongly opposed the casino bill.

, commenting on the home rule-type proposal, said it added “to the ongoing collection of circus stunts that constitute Ohio government these days.”

Circus stunt and longshot or not, governor Ted Strickland’s office said he will veto “any bill authorizing voter-approved casinos if it doesn’t protect local governments’ ability to regulate the projects.”

The casinos are seeking legislation specifying that no local zoning rules can stop casino development, and there can be no “unreasonable delays” in issuing building permits.

Ohio’s labour unions, meanwhile, through the AFL-CIO, are letting all legislators know they expect the $200 million in casino license fees to be used toward job creation. The leaders of the labour unions made their wishes clear, saying, “if the general assembly is going to be using issue three constitutional funds that come from a licensing fee in another way, we could be mired in a courtroom situation.”

(Harness Tracks of America)