Indiana Considers Expanding Horse Racing, Slot Machines
House Speaker Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) said this week that at least one proposal for slots at the tracks would get a hearing before the House Public Policy Committee very soon.
Indiana’s two pari-mutuel tracks have had financial hardship, of late, and their owners have warned lawmakers that they cannot stay in business much longer without more aid from the state.
“The horse-racing industry is in deep trouble in this state because both tracks appear to be going broke, and I think we’re open to looking at some way of helping them,” Speaker Bauer said.
Additional revenue from slots would allow them to boost revenues, which would attract better horses and therefore more bettors. The tracks may make millions of dollars in profits, and the state would potentially take in tens of millions in wagering taxes, if the changes are allowed.
New Bills
Two bills have been filed by House Democrats that would allow slots at horse racing venues, with one allowing up to 2,500 new slot machines at every racing track.Currently, the tracks share $27 million a year in funds from riverboat gambling revenue.
A number of attempts to legalize slot machines or similar devices at horse tracks and off-track betting parlors have failed to pass the General Assembly over the past several years. One bill passed a Democrat-controlled House in 2004, but it was killed in the Republican-controlled Senate under the leadership of then Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton (R-Columbus).
Garton has blocked earlier expansions of gambling, saying they would only make a few rich people richer. But Garton was defeated in the primary last year, and the Republican-ruled Senate is now led by Sen. David Long of Fort Wayne.
Long said he “was not a fan of gambling or expanding it in this state,” but if a slot bill passed the House, he would let his Senate decide whether it got a committee hearing.
According to Jane Jankowski, press secretary to Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, the governor has said that he does not favor an expansion of gambling.
That could change, however. One bill would impose a 32.5 percent state wagering tax on the first $150 million in annual adjusted gross receipts from the slot machines, and a 37.5 percent rate on proceeds above that. The tax revenue would be dedicated to full-day kindergarten and health initiatives, among other projects.
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