Fact-Checking Issue 3 Casino Campaign Ads: Will Jobs Go To Out-Of-State Workers?

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- NBC 4's Patrick Preston continues to fact-check the television ads in the Issue 3 casino campaign. Today, he examines whether the estimated 34,000 jobs supporters expect to create will go to out-of-state workers.

An emerging argument in the campaign against Issue 3 is the claim that Ohio workers would be shut out of the jobs created by the new casinos.

Opposition group TruthPAC is running a television advertisement that claims, "...the jobs that are created will go to skilled, experienced casino workers from out of state. All because Issue 3 gives no hiring preference to Ohio workers."

TruthPAC spokesperson Sandy Theis explains the group's point of view.

"What's happened in other states is a casino comes in and the highly-paid technical jobs don't go to the people who live in that state," Theis said. "They go to people from out-of-state casinos who are transferred in and they get the jobs that pay a lot of money."

But the TruthPAC ad does not say 'some' jobs, or the 'highly-paid technical jobs' go to out-of-state workers. It simply states "the jobs," leaving viewers to assume the ad is referring to all jobs created by the new casinos. That is not the case.

So what is the truth?

Bob Tennenbaum of the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee concedes that the top casino-management jobs will go to people who have casino experience. This means those jobs likely will be filled by people from outside of Ohio.

"Nobody's going to open a business and put in the top positions people who have no experience in that field," Tennenbaum said. "And the fact is, we don't have casinos in Ohio now. We don't have people experienced in running them."

Tennenbaum believes the construction timetable for the new casinos would last at least two years, if Issue 3 passes. He says that would give the developers time to train local workers for the vast majority of the thousands of permanent jobs, such as dealers, servers, and maintenance positions.

"They're going to come from Ohio. The construction companies that get picked to build these casinos are most likely to be Ohio construction companies. They are going to hire Ohio construction workers," Tennenbaum said.

Theis notes that the ballot language for Issue 3 does not include a hiring preference for Ohio workers. In the state of Ohio's plan to put slots at race tracks, the rules do call for companies to set goals of
hiring at least 50 percent of workers from the area.

Tennenbaum points out that those employees who move to Ohio for work at the casinos will still help to contribute millions of dollars in local income taxes annually, and spend their earnings at local businesses.

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