TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) – A vote is expected Wednesday from the Ohio's House of Representatives as they discuss rules for governing the new casinos, including safety forces and what type of funds local law enforcement will receive from the casinos.
On Tuesday, the Ohio House sent back the bill to the Rules and References Committee. Some changes were made there, such as allocating more money to go towards treating gambling addiction. Also, the bill no longer forces counties to use revenue from the casino taxes on public safety.
Ohio counties were expected to receive somewhere between $32 and $44 million in casino tax money this year. However, the delay in opening the Hollywood Casino in Toledo and the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland has greatly reduced those amounts.
A source participating in the meeting has told WTOL the two possible opening dates for the casinos are the weeks of May 14 for Cleveland and May 28 for Toledo.
According to lawmakers, there is an emergency clause to the bill, but state senators said they will tend to it immediately to possibly avoid putting it through committees.