Ohio casino backers try again

From the “If at first you don’t succeed…” category, Ohio casino proponents won’t give up.

A casino ballot plan was submitted to Ohio’s attorney general Wednesday that would allow casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo.

Under the proposal, developers would pay $50 million for a gaming license and invest at least $250 million in the facilities. Each would house 5,000 slot machines.

Proponents said the casino revenues would be subject to a 33 percent tax, generating an estimated $600 million to the state for schools.

Penn National Gaming, which opposed a defeated Ohio ballot referendum in November that would have placed a casino in Clinton County, announced its support for the new proposal.

Penn National CEO Peter Carlino said the casinos would create 20,000 jobs.

“These investments will help to revitalize struggling Ohio metropolitan areas while providing support for counties, cities and public schools across the state,” Carlino said.

A spokesman for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said his boss is not inclined to support the proposal.

“This follows four failed measures in 1990, 1996, 2006 and 2008,” Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Bill Lerner told investors. “Though prior attempts did not include a casino in the state’s four largest cities.”