Cincinnati Casino Amendment Rejected

The Cincinnati Casino Amendment, which threatened to jeopardize the Learn and Earn program to provide college scholarships to Ohio high school students, was rejected by Attorney General Jim Petro today.

State law requires that a proposed initiated constitutional amendment contain at least one thousand signatures of qualified electors.  The Cincinnati Casino Amendment only contained 893 certified signatures. Over half of the signatures submitted were rejected due to the petitioners’ failure to properly file the paperwork.

This is a big loss for Cincinnati Casino lobbyist Gerry Austin. Austin will now need to recollect one thousand signatures and file again for certification with the Attorney General. With the July deadline of over 322,899 signatures needed to place an amendment on the ballot approaching, Cincinnati officials may now decide to back the already certified Learn and Earn amendment.