Jill over at WLSTÂ took some time today to focus her legal eye on Issue #3, and it reminded me that I have a pent-up rant that needs to be released.
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Like most of you, I’ve been assaulted daily by mailings, posters, and TV ads encouraging me to vote ‘Yes’ for higher education. I read through the postcards carefully and I didn’t spot a single reference to ‘Slot Machine’ or ‘Gambling’. You would think that these people would be proud of their amendment and the business it will generate.
Some of the TV ads talk about the windfall that our college students-to-be will enjoy. A whopping 30% of the take. What isn’t mentioned is that 55% is left with the owners of the lucky establishments (mentioned by name. Sorry Uncle Bob). This amounts to (conservatively) a $900 Million/year ‘thank-you’ from the state of Ohio. For you math majors, 55%+30%=85%. That leave 15% left over. Where does that go?
Well, a ‘Gaming Integrity Commission’ gets 8%, presumably for a study to get a better name.
Ohio racetracks get 6% for purse money. That’s not a joke. Did I mention that 7 of the 9 listed slot locations are these same racetracks? It’s a 6% bonus on top of the 55% bonus!
And the state gets 1% for gambling addition services. Because when your get-rich-quick scheme creates a problem, you should toss a few pennies behind you so someone else can clean it up.
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Will gamblers go somewhere else if Issue 3 fails? Maybe. Or maybe they’ll just stick to the horses. Laying our children’s education on the backs of people with gambling problems is a bad idea.
And Issue 3 is a bad idea.