Gov. Mike Pence signed the Senate Enrolled Act 528 into law Friday, ending for now at least any hopes of bringing live gaming tables to the state's two racinos.
The legislation adjusted the gaming tax structure and allowed limited use of mobile gaming devices approved last year by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission. Some sections of the law became effective the date of signing, while others will become effective July 1.
Pence said in a news release Friday that he believed the legislation will provide casinos enough tools to improve their competitiveness against gaming in neighboring states while at the same time not expanding gaming in Indiana.
Two Shelby County legislators -- State Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, a co-author of the bill; and State Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, who co-sponsored it in the House -- staunchly supported the live gaming component saying it would provide millions in additional revenue to the state and hundreds of new jobs at the two horse track and casinos owned by Centaur Gaming LLC.
"We believe more needs to be done in the coming years because of all the new competition that we face," he said. "But we're going to continue making our facilities at Indiana Grand and Hoosier Park more exciting for our customers."
Pence opposed verbiage in the original Senate bill to include live table games at the racinos and riverboat casinos to move onto their own properties and threatened to veto the bill if included by the time it reached his desk for signing.
The governor considered both an expansion of gaming in Indiana, something he did not want.
Two key House committees subsequently removed and passed the bill without the provisions, followed by conference committees agreeing to the changes as well.
For freshman State Sen. Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, watching the bill's metamorphosis through the legislative process was eye-opening.
"That was probably one of the most interesting things for me to watch," he said after the bill passed the House in a 73-17 vote without the conditions.
Crider, like Leising and Eberhart, didn't see how adding live gaming tables could be considered an expansion when the same games are already utilized by patrons via video.
"But I think there were a couple folks who felt pretty adamant that that was the expansion, and one of those was the governor," he said.
For many, the bill was about jobs and revenue, and the loss of the live gaming tables and subsequent jobs and revenue was a bitter pill for Shelbyville.
"I couldn't identify with the notion that this was an expansion in gaming and was disappointed that the jobs were lost to this type of thinking," Shelbyville Mayor Tom DeBaun said. "For me it was a jobs and investment bill. Gaming exists there now, it wasn't an issue of 'to game or not to game.'"
Brown said an estimated 600 new jobs at both racinos were lost to communities due to the exclusion.
DeBaun pointed out that in addition to replacing video dealers with humans earning potentially $20 per hour, secondary jobs benefiting the community would have subsequently resulted via vendors serving the racino.
"Regarding the result of the tax cuts and the 'free play' amendments in that bill, we locally will need to take a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "Because that could actually cost the entire county some of the local share depending upon how the gross revenues are calculated."
http://www.shelbynews.com/articles/2013/05/17/news/doc5193dc78cccb0771522662.txt
