From the Northwest Indiana Times:
The ink is barely dry on Indiana's two-year state budget legislation, but the potential for new Illinois casinos is threatening to throw the Hoosier spending and tax cut plan out of balance.
The Democratic-controlled Illinois Senate voted 32-20 Wednesday for Senate Bill 1739 permitting new casinos in Chicago, the south suburbs and three other cities; slot machines at horse racing tracks and the two Chicago airports; and a reduction in casino tax rates.
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Hoosier lawmakers did not account for the expansion of Illinois gaming when crafting House Bill 1001, Indiana's 2014-15 state budget, which takes effect July 1, 2013. It provides for $30 billion in state spending over two years along with $1.1 billion in tax cuts.
The Indiana budget currently is balanced, with projected revenues exceeding spending by approximately $100 million in each year.
However, the budget is likely to drop into deficit status if Illinois goes ahead with its casino expansion plans and projections of Illinois gaming tax revenue prove accurate.
Indiana budget writers chopped $70 million a year from their estimates of state gaming tax revenue because of the recently opened Cincinnati casino, which is half the size of the proposed Chicago casino.
Add in the Cincinnati-sized casino proposed for the south suburbs and a second casino of that size near the Indiana border in Danville, Ill., and Hoosier tax losses from Illinois casino expansion could easily top $100 million and produce a budget deficit in Indiana.
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See the full article here:
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/new-illinois-casinos-could-bust-indiana-s-budget/article_32464fc8-1925-5ad3-967f-ecca039466a2.html
