Nine gambling bills have been introduced in the Indiana legislature this session. Six address charitable gambling. But House Bill 1540 is the one observers are closely watching. Authored by state Rep. Tom Dermody, it was approved 10-2 by the House Committee on Public Policy, which Dermody chairs. The bill now will go to the House Ways and Means Committee for a closer review on its fiscal aspects.
The measure would allow riverboat casinos to move ashore onto adjacent properties, remove obsolete provisions in casino tax law and replace up to half the number of existing electronic table games with live table games at racinos. In addition, it would establish the Indiana Gaming Investment Tax Credit for certain investments made by riverboat casino owners. Co-author and committee member, State Rep. Terri Austin, estimated the legislation could raise $4.1 million for the state and $800,000 for local communities in tax revenue.
“While I know that it is tempting to simply label this as a gaming bill, people should know that HB 1540 is a jobs bill. It will mean the retention of jobs at existing operations across the state, and it will mean as many as 150 new jobs at Hoosier Park in Anderson and Indiana Grand near Shelbyville. These jobs will pay good wages and benefits and play a key role in revitalizing one of Indiana’s key industries. Most importantly, we can achieve all of this without costing taxpayers a dime,” Austin said.
The bill is designed to stop and reverse gambling revenue declines from Indiana’s 10 riverboat casinos, two racinos and one land-based casino. In a 2014 report by the Indiana Gaming Commission, Executive Director Ernest Yelton said, “Fiscal year 2014 marked the first complete year the four casinos in Ohio were fully operational. It also represented the lowest tax revenue for the state of Indiana since 2002.”
State Rep. Sean Eberhart supports the legislation. “I feel good at this point. Of course, as we’ve seen with other bills it could change as we move through the system. Any changes we make, not only with this bill but other bills, there’s going to be a give and take that could impact one segment. We need to decide what’s good policy for the entire state, and I think the addition of table games will have a net positive.” Eberhart noted some of the casinos that oppose the legislation are owned by companies that have opened competitive casinos in Illinois and Ohio. “They talk about how they’ve lost hundreds of jobs and thousands of dollars when it’s a self-inflicted wound. I think we have to take that in to consideration when we hear them complain,” Eberhart said.
Dan Lee, chief executive officer at Full House Resorts, which owns Rising Star Casino in southeastern Indiana, said the company does not have the money to make the move to land and allowing live dealers at racinos could harm other marketing plans. “How do we bring in celebrity restaurateurs and fix up things and everything, and then out of left field I heard, ‘Oh, you might get stabbed in the back. They’re going to let tables into the racinos,’ and I thought, ‘Well Jesus, do we throw good money after bad?’”
Centaur Gaming President Jim Brown responded, “Live table games would result in numerous economic benefits to the state of Indiana and our host communities including jobs, tax revenues and result in additional capital investment.”
