COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Auto Workers Union Region 2B - which represents 180,000 active and retired workers throughout Ohio - today endorsed State Issue 3, citing the 34,000 jobs it would create in Ohio and the economic development it will spur in the state's four largest cities.

"No one knows better than our members what the economic downturn has done to the state of Ohio," said Ken Lortz, director of UAW Region 2B. "Issue 3 is first and foremost a jobs creation and economic development issue. Ohio needs the 34,000 jobs it will create, our cities need the economic development boost, and our local governments and schools need the hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue Issue 3 will generate."

Issue 3, which will go before Ohio voters in the November 3 election, authorizes first-class casinos in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo. If approved, it would create approximately 19,000 construction jobs beginning in 2010 and 15,000 permanent jobs once the casinos are fully operational in 2013. It would generate $651 million in casino taxes each year, with the vast majority of the tax money going to Ohio's 88 counties, its eight largest cities and every school district in the state.

"We think the voters of Ohio are going to recognize that this is the right plan at the right time for Ohio," Lortz said. "No previous ballot issue on expanded gaming has come close to providing the jobs, the economic boost and the local tax revenues Issue 3 will produce.

"Our members - like many Ohioans - are also tired of seeing more than $1 billion a year go to out-of-state casinos as Ohioans travel to Michigan, Indiana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania," he said. "It's time to keep that money - and the tax revenue it produces - here in Ohio.

Charlie Luken, chairman of the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee and leader of the Issue 3 campaign, said, "This endorsement means a lot because of the UAW's long history of supporting issues that benefit Ohio and its working men and women."

Primary backers of Issue 3 are:

    --  Penn National Gaming, Inc., a prominent operator of gaming facilities        and horse racing tracks, including Raceway Park in Toledo; and    --  Dan Gilbert, through his Rock Ventures partnership. Gilbert is majority        owner of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers and operator of Quicken Loans Arena        in downtown Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic Courts, the Lake Erie Monsters,        Veritix and Fathead, as well as Chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans,        which operates a 350-person Internet web center in downtown Cleveland.        Gilbert, who began investing in Ohio in 2005, employs more than 2,500        people throughout the state.

Pd. for by Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee, Bill Curlis, Treasurer, 865 Macon Alley, Columbus OH 43206

SOURCE Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan