Eyewear tax, fantasy gaming bills voted on
Ohio lawmakers this week voted to legalize and regulate fantasy gaming, exempt prescription eyewear from the sales tax and keep high school students betterinformed of career choices.
The Ohio Senate passed a bill that would hand regulation of fantasy sports gaming, such as those offered by online sites DraftKings and FanDuel, over to the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Players pay to select individual athletes who score points based on their performance in games, with the highest scores winning cash payouts.
Games would be exempt from state gambling laws.
The bill prohibits an operator from offering fantasy contests for youth or college sports, and prohibits employees of a gaming site from participating in the games.
Without the bill, Ohioans could be left exposed with no recourse if a gaming site operates unfairly or fraudulently, said Sen. Dave Burke, R-Marysville.
The bill would “allow our friends and neighbors to safely use whatever skill set they have in the sports arena in what appears to be a very fun and entertaining way,” he said.
Sen. Bill Coley, R-West Chester, one of four Senate Republicans to vote against the bill, unsuccessfully pushed to add a 6 percent tax on fantasy gaming to help fund addiction services. He noted that Ohio casinos pay a 33 percent tax rate and racinos pay up to 43 percent, while Ohio Lottery profits are earmarked for schools.
“What are you getting here? You’re getting no jobs, no development, the money sent out of state electronically, and you’re getting nothing for Ohio,” Coley told his colleagues. “It’s a reasonable tax to impose and offset the societal costs that we’re going to incur.”
Burke said no one testified that fantasy gaming could cause addiction.
Once the House concurs with Senate amendments, House Bill 132 will head to the governor.
Meanwhile, the House gave final approval to a bill that, in part, was amended to address some of Gov. John Kasich’s 47 budget vetoes, avoiding more override votes.
Senate Bill 8, among other things, would exempt prescription eyewear from state and local sales tax. The Ohio Optometric Association said the measure removes an economic barrier from patients and puts optical aids on par with other prescription medical products that are already exempt.
The bill, which goes to Kasich for his signature, also includes $7.4 million to soften school-funding cuts for 22 districts, including Grandview Heights, hit hard by reductions in tangible personal property tax reimbursements.
The Senate also approved a bill naming a portion of Route 40 as the “Steven Eric DiSario Memorial Highway,” for the slain Kirkersville police chief.
DiSario was shot and killed on May 12 while responding to reports of an armed man at a nursing home. He was killed by Thomas Hartless, 43, who also fatally shot his exgirlfriend, Marlina Medrano, and a co-worker at the nursing home, Cindy Krantz, before killing himself.
The bill now goes to the House.
The House passed a bill ensuring that representatives of higher education, the armed forces, skilled trades and others get at least two opportunities to speak to high school students about potential career paths. School districts could establish a process but could not refuse access.
“Right now, it is very easy for an Ohio high school to simply ignore a recruiter, because there’s no law giving them a right to speak with students,” said Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, who sponsored House Bill 98 with Rep. Kristin Boggs, D-Columbus.
The bill now goes to the Senate.