COLUMBUS, Ohio—State lawmakers could open the door for Cuyahoga County and other large counties to get more sports gaming facilities under language included in the latest version of the state’s two-year budget bill.
The revised two-year budget bill outlines spending of $88 billion on a litany of other things as well, including a significant expansion of Medicaid coverage, $1 million for security for next year’s solar eclipse, and millions of dollars to a variety of Northeast Ohio organizations and initiatives.
The legislation was waved ahead by the House Finance Committee on Tuesday and is expected to pass the full House on Wednesday, though the state Senate will make its own revisions before it heads to Gov. Mike DeWine.
House Bill 33, if passed, would allow the three largest counties in Ohio – Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties – to have seven sports-gaming facilities, rather than the five allowed under current law. That could provide an opportunity for sportsbook applicants in Cuyahoga County who were previously rejected, including Bobby George’s Harry Buffalo; Steve Rosen, co-CEO of a private equity firm called Resilience Capital Partners in Beachwood; and downtown developer Stark Enterprises.
The JACK Casino, JACK Thistledown racino, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Guardians each have higher priority for Cuyahoga’s five Type-B licenses, as state law gives casinos, racinos and sports teams priority for such permits. Sports betting became legal in Ohio at the beginning of the year.
HB23, as written, would continue to allow only a total of 40 sports gaming licenses statewide. House Finance Committee Chair Jay Edwards, an Athens County Republican, told reporters that the proposed change would just redirect “dormant” licenses in other counties to the state’s largest counties. Edwards said the proposal was added to the budget bill at the request of “multiple Republican members.”
The House also has added a number of measures to expand Medicaid coverage for Ohioans. That includes covering a range of services to treat obesity, such as prevention and wellness services, nutrition counseling, intensive behavioral therapy, gastric bypass and other weight-loss surgeries, and prescription drugs.
Other parts of HB33, as written, would expand Medicaid to, among other things, cover pregnant women and children under age 19 with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level, pay for doulas for the next five years, and increase the payment rates for new nursing facilities, eye care services, and dental services.
Ohio Republican lawmakers have historically resisted expanding Medicaid – most notably in 2013, when then-Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, circumvented GOP legislative opposition by getting the Ohio Controlling Board to approve federal funding to expand Medicaid eligibility to cover an additional 275,000 lower-income Ohioans.
Edwards said he sees this Medicaid expansion as a fiscally conservative measure because addressing medical issues such as obesity will save Medicaid money in the long run.
Another new item in the budget would put $1 million toward reimbursing first-responders and emergency personnel deployed around the time of a total solar eclipse that will take place over much of Ohio in April of 2024.
The House Finance Committee on Tuesday also added a number of appropriations for Northeast Ohio organization during the next two years, including:
- $10 million to the Cleveland Foodbank
- $6.75 million to College Now to pay family support specialists employed by the Say Yes to Education Cleveland program
- $5.6 million to Open Doors Academy to support out-of-school programs in Northeast Ohio, as well as Lima, Sandusky, and Mansfield, and to support seven other additional locations in the state
- $5 million for the Bacon Road Pump Station project in Lake County
- $4.5 million to the North East Ohio Medical School to create and run a new certified mental health assistant program
- An additional $3.5 million for the Mentor Erosion Mitigation Project
- $3 million to Cleveland Neighborhood Progress for the Middle Neighborhood Investment Project
- $1.2 million to Birthing Beautiful Communities in Cleveland
- $1 million to the Nord Center in Lorain County to offer continuing comprehensive behavioral health services
- $975,000 for The Foundry’s “Row. Sail. Dream.” program in downtown Cleveland
- $900,000 for the Senior Transportation Accessibility and Modernization Pilot Program, administered by Senior Transportation Connection in Cuyahoga County
- $600,000 to the Cleveland Institute of Music for the Academy at CIM, an after-school and weekend youth training program
- $500,000 to the Cleveland Museum of Art
- $500,000 to the Cleveland Orchestra
- $500,000 to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to increase access to its STEM education programs
- $500,000 to Northeast Ohio Medical University or another entity to deliver statewide continuing training and education to professionals on identifying and treating alcohol and other substance use disorders
- $300,000 to support the Kent State University Rising Scholars program
- $200,000 to the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio to support the Community Connection Team Building Program
Another change would require state officials to study whether to move the Ohio State Fair, currently held at the state fairgrounds in Columbus, to another location within Franklin County or an adjoining county.
The House Finance Committee also removed some items that it added last week, including moving up deer gun hunting season to start the Friday after Thanksgiving, moving Ohio’s 2024 presidential primary from March to May, and directing all money the state takes in from oil and gas leases on state land (including state parks) toward an economic-development fund.
The massive budget bill continues to provide a state income-tax cut for low- to middle-income Ohioans totaling about $200 million, provide Ohio teachers a significant salary boost, and expand eligibility for publicly funded tuition vouchers for K-12 private schools up to $135,000 for a family of four.
Another $62 million for development of a land bridge connecting Downtown Cleveland to the lakefront, added among other amendments last week, also remained in the bill the committee advanced on Tuesday.