Details of the two plans to help keep the Colts

Rep. Luke Messer's plan
• Total for Colts: $30 million a year
• Sources: Taxes on a total of 5,000 slot machines (not pull tabs) at the state's two horse tracks
• Other revenue: $20 million to $100 million in taxes on slot revenue would be left over for the state general fund

Mayor Bart Peterson's plan
• Total for Colts: $46 million a year
• Sources: Taxes on 1,500 slotlike pull-tab machines in Indianapolis and $1 million from proposed Colts vanity license plates
• Other revenue: Unknown

A key Republican lawmaker will propose his own financial deal to help keep the Indianapolis Colts in town by adding 5,000 slot machines -- all at the state's two horse tracks, but none Downtown.

The proposal -- made Tuesday as this year's Indiana General Assembly got under way -- would give Indianapolis a cut of the money, but one that falls $16 million a year short of Mayor Bart Peterson's request to finance a new stadium.

"We do need more," said Steve Campbell, a spokesman for the mayor.

Rep. Luke Messer, R-Shelbyville, said he will introduce legislation this week calling for 2,500 slots at both Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs with $30 million in annual gambling proceeds for the city and even more for the state. Messer said he's open to a casino in Indianapolis and admits his bill is only a start.

"This limits the expansion of gambling," said Messer, who is also executive director of the Indiana Republican Party. "But my bill won't be the last version. In the end, it will likely look much different."

Last month, Peterson announced plans for a $500 million, retractable-roof stadium and a $300 million expansion of the Indiana Convention Center. He wants $46 million from pull-tab machines, which resemble slot machines, to help pay for the stadium.

Previous proposals to legalize slot machines at race tracks called for slots in the off-track betting parlors in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. But legislative leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers have been reluctant to expand gambling -- especially to Downtown Indianapolis.

Gov.-elect Mitch Daniels, who was not available for comment Tuesday, has not been supportive of adding more slot machines, either.

Tuesday was a day mostly of announcements, procedure and remembrance. Senators spent time remembering Charles "Bud" Meeks, who died last year after an illness.

The House got right to business, as one committee approved a bill to tighten a loophole in a law protecting Hoosiers from predatory lenders. Another committee heard two hours of testimony on a bill to shift economic development duties to a new public-private corporation.

Meanwhile, the hallways were packed with lobbyists, including Peterson.

He wants lawmakers to craft legislation that would legalize pull-tabs and give the city tens of millions in annual proceeds from the machines.

Messer acknowledges his plan falls about $16 million a year short of Peterson's request. But with the state's financial straits (the budget deficit is near $600 million), Messer said it will have to be good enough.

"We're hopeful this is a good start towards getting the Colts the funding they need," Messer said.

Legalizing 5,000 slot machines in Indiana could raise between $50 million and $150 million in tax revenue a year, Messer said -- and any money that goes to Indianapolis would reduce the state's take. Also, the two horse tracks -- Hoosier Park in Anderson and Indiana Downs in Shelby County -- would each pay a one-time $50 million licensing fee that would go into the state's general fund.

Here's how proceeds from the slot machines would be divided under Messer's proposal:

• 35 percent would go to the state's general fund, from which the state will pay $30 million a year for the Colts.
• 12 percent to the horse tracks and horse racing industry.
• 7 percent to the local communities.

Hoosier Park general manager Rick Moore hadn't seen the bill and didn't want to comment.

Messer's proposal also calls for real slot machines in the tracks -- and not electronic pull-tab machines, which play like slots but have different payout structures.

The proposal would end the $27 million annual subsidy that helps keep the state's horse racing industry afloat.

Horse industry officials estimate racing in Indiana has at least a $400 million a year economic impact -- from the veterinarians who treat horses to the jockeys who race them. But the industry is struggling, and proponents say slot machines will help.

"Our industry provides economic development on a local basis," said Michael Brown, a spokesman for the Indiana Horse Racing and Breeding Coalition.

"The Colts stadium provides considerable economic development in Indianapolis. The two interests are somewhat parallel."

Call Star reporter Michele McNeil at (317) 444-2771.