Summary
Faced with a decision from the Ohio Supreme Court, Governor Strickland has pushed back the timetable for VLT's at Ohio's racetracks. He will file suit to ask the Ohio Supreme Court for a declaratory judgment on his authority.
Analysis
Governor Strickland will file suit to ask the Ohio Supreme Court for a declaratory judgment stating that he has the legal authority to place slot machines at Ohio racetracks without voter or legislative approval. In the meantime, he has asked the legislature to postpone the final year of a total 20% across the board income tax cut. Postponing the tax cut will likely raise enough money to cover the projected budget deficit.
An income tax hike will likely pass the Democrat led Ohio House. However, the GOP led Senate may balk in order to wring the most political pain out of the Governor who faces a rough 2010 re-election battle. Alternatively, Senate Republicans may permit passage of the hike with a goal of blaming Democrats for raising income taxes during a recession.
Companies impacted are likely IGT, INLOT, WMS, and BYI.
This author consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
