COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — At the urging of some of Ohio’s toplaw enforcers, the once reticent Ohio
Senate has decided to moveforward with a ban on Internet cafes they now believe are conductingillegal
gambling.Republican Senate President Keith Faber saidWednesday that a majority of his caucus now agrees the
cafes areinvolved in criminal activities, including illegal gambling, and shouldbe outlawed.Faber introduced
an emergency bill late Tuesdayimmediately halting any new Internet cafes and requiring operators ofcurrent
ones to file new, more thorough affidavits with the state thatinclude background information on the
facilities’ true owners."Hopefully,we can get this done in a way that we don’t have to worry about
thisagain," Faber said. "But history has proven that this is something wherewe have to stay
vigilant. These folks who figure out a way to operatein this area have a willingness to bend the
law."TheGOP-controlled chamber only last week had signaled a bill limiting cashpayouts from the cafes
was still in trouble. The Ohio House had sent twosimilar measures since last year to the Senate, where
they’d gottenbottled up in committee.Faber’s announcement follows pleas byOhio Attorney General Mike DeWine
for legislative action, as well as apivotal 8th District Court of Appeals ruling concluding the
operationswere obvious gambling schemes.DeWine, a fellow Republican, led a raid on six of the facilities in
the Cleveland area last week in the wake of that ruling.DeWine,Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and
Ohio Public Safety DirectorTom Charles met with Senate Republicans in a closed-door briefingTuesday night to
urge action, explaining the financial and staffingdemands being put on law enforcement agencies by the
current setup.The three flanked Faber as he made his announcement Wednesday, lauding the chamber for its
change of heart."Ithink this is the right thing to do, and I think it helps us at thelocal level to
spend our time and efforts on the murders, rapes,robberies, burglaries and heroin that we all face in the
field everyday," O’Brien said.He called it "a matter of resources and priorities for
us."Faber,who took the Senate’s helm in January, said he expects the ban to movequickly. He said House
Speaker Bill Batchelder has indicated his chamberis supportive of the action.Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press.