from the USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that a law authorizing video lottery terminals at Ohio’s seven race tracks was not in effect a full day before opponents said they will challenge it in court.

According to the Dispatch story, the threat of a lawsuit came on the same day that Gov. John Kasich issued an executive order suspending the state’s normal rule-making process so track owners can move quickly to set up the VLTs.

If successful, the lawsuit would put at risk $350 million in license fees the state is charging the tracks to open slots for 10 years, plus about $1 billion in required investments in the racinos and hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue.

Earlier this year, lawmakers approved VLTs at the tracks as part of a broader deal that Kasich struck to extract more money for the state from four voter-authorized casinos opening in 2012 and 2013.

To read the full story, click here.