Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003 | 9:23 a.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A slots-for-scholarship constitutional amendment pending in the House faces a cloudy future and a Wednesday deadline for getting it before voters for the March 3 primary election.
The Senate-passed proposal would put video slot machines in Ohio's seven racetracks, with most of the proceeds going to fund a program to award four-year scholarships to Ohio public universities for the top 10 percent of the state's high school graduates.
However, House Speaker Larry Householder wants the money to go toward retiring a two-year sales tax increase that has angered conservatives. He does not want the money to go toward new programs, such as scholarships, Householder spokesman Dwight Crum said Monday.
"Our position all along has been we've been open to VLTs (video lottery terminals) to solve problems," Crum said. "There's nothing that really is new."
Last week Senate sponsor Lou Blessing, a Cincinnati Republican, met with Sen. Kevin Coughlin, a Cuyahoga Falls Republican, and Rep. Bill Seitz, another Cincinnati Republican, to try to forge a compromise plan.
Seitz said Monday that he has heard no reports of progress in selling a compromise to the House and the Senate, which would have to agree to any House changes.
The compromise would earmark some of the money for tax relief, with the rest going for scholarships and primary-secondary school construction, said Sharon Hershey, legislative aide to Coughlin.
Also complicating the matter: Getting the three-fifths' majority of the 99-member House and the 33-member Senate to agree on a plan by Wednesday -- 90 days before the primary.
"The plea I would make to all House and Senate members is if we don't come to terms by Wednesday, the people will get no college scholarships and no tax reduction," Seitz said.
Blessing did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Seitz and other backers likely will need the help of Democrats to ensure passage of the resolution. A compromise won't have the support of 60 of the 62 Republicans in the House.
House Minority Leader Chris Redfern, a Port Clinton Democrat, said he discussed the resolution last Wednesday with Coughlin but had not heard from the GOP since then.
Redfern said Democrats could provide 25 of his caucus' 37 votes for passage, but only if the resolution retains its current level of scholarship money, which would be difficult under a plan that provides tax relief.
The sales tax increase, scheduled to expire on June 30, 2005, is expected to raise $2.5 billion over two years. The video slots are expected to raise about $500 million a year.
"I would support it and I would lend the support of my caucus only if the top 10 percent of every high school got scholarships," Redfern said.
Any plan without scholarships would be a tough sell to voters, but the promise of tax relief could prove popular, especially in northeast Ohio, said Rep. Jim Trakas of suburban Cleveland, the No. 5 Republican in the House.
"The proponents believe that what Ohioans would vote for is scholarships," Trakas said. "I know my constituents pretty well, and given the opportunity to end the tax -- anything would be better than the tax."
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