Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is ready to gamble. Jackson on Wednesday announced he will support a November ballot proposal that would bring two slot machine parlors to the core of his struggling city. Jackson said the prospect of 5,300 jobs and $75 million yearly in economic development money for the city and county are worth risking his political capital. "I have to look out for the future of the city of Cleveland," Jackson said during an afternoon meeting with Plain Dealer editors. "It would be imprudent of me not to position the city to benefit from it." Jackson was joined by City Council President Martin Sweeney, Cuyahoga County commissioners and business and labor leaders in extolling the positives of Learn and Earn. The group hammered out the proposal this spring with the state's seven horse track owners, Forest City Enterprises Inc. and investor Jeff Jacobs. The Learn and Earn issue would amend the Ohio Constitution to allow 31,000 slot machines at nine sites, including Forest City's Tower City complex and Jacobs' Nautica Entertainment Complex.

Learn and Earn, soon to be certified for the November ballot, would generate some $2.8 billion yearly in slots revenue, according to estimates. About $850 million would go to college scholarships and more than $200 million to economic development across Ohio.

In Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, supporters estimate a $184 million yearly benefit from Learn and Earn, including scholarship and development money.