By Joe Guillen, The Plain Dealer
COLUMBUS, Ohio – State lawmakers finally established new gambling regulations at about 4 a.m. Friday, after a whirlwind of negotiations that left out a program to encourage minority hiring at the state’s four new casinos.
That’s unsettling to some leaders of Cleveland’s African-American community, which is coping with a high unemployment rate and a belief that minorities are excluded when jobs are created.
“Minorities have always had to struggle for everyday work, with contractors or what have you,” said Rep. Sandra Williams, a Cleveland Democrat who fought to include the diversity hiring program. “At this point, we’re going to have to take people at their word.”
The exclusion of the program, which would have required the operators of the casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo to submit diversity hiring plans to the state, means the operators simply will have to honor a written commitment to hire minorities. The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus and the operators agreed earlier this week to memorandums of understanding that laid out the pledge.
The memos were the only option after Senate Republicans held firm this week in their refusal to force set asides and quotas on private businesses through legislation.
While the minority hiring program was left out, Senate Republicans and House Democrats who led the casino bill negotiations reached a handful of other compromises by early Friday, including:
$100 million in casino licensing fees that will go toward workforce development programs, including $25 million for programs in urban areas. The appropriation was not in the casino bill; it was put into another bill passed this week.
A provision that will allow the Cleveland casino to open in phases, meaning the city’s first gambling operation will open at the Higbee Building next year.
The written pledge from casino operators — essentially a handshake deal — was satisfactory to some, including Williams, president of the Black Caucus, and Mayor Frank Jackson, who had urged lawmakers to agree on the regulations as soon as possible.
But others have doubts.
Story Compliments Of The Plain Dealer
