In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown discuss the chances that legal sports gambling will win big in the Buckeye state. State Senator Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) joins the show.
Vax Shot Jackpot
Wednesday evening, Ohio announced the first winners of the Ohio Vax-A-Million drawings.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the lottery idea has exceeded his wildest expectations. The USA Today Ohio Network did an analysis and found vaccinations among people 16 and older increased 40% in the week after the lottery was announced.
People thought DeWine was crazy for this lottery idea but states across the country are following his lead.
Covering The Spread
Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would legalize sports gambling in the state. The basic idea of the bill is to have the state issue dozens of licenses to establishments to take bets. Some would go to online sites.
The licenses would cost $1 million for three years. Ohio would tax gambling at 10% and the system would be run by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
Pennsylvania, Michigan and Indiana already have legal sports betting and some lawmakers feel the state is missing out on revenue.
The bill would ban gambling on sports involving young athletes in K-12 schools.
Snollygoster Of The Week
Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder lost his leadership position last year over the federal indictment related to the energy plant bailout, but he’s still a state lawmaker.
This week, some House Democrats made it known they were working on a resolution to expel Householder from the House, and now – all of a sudden – Republicans are too.
House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) still hasn’t called for a vote on the issue and largely dodges the question when asked by reporters. He did issue a statement saying “I have consistently maintained that Larry Householder should resign from the Ohio House of Representatives. The resolutions filed will receive the appropriate process according to House rules.”
Send questions and comments to snollygoster@wosu.org.
