Indiana Horse Racing and Breeding Coalition
www.hoosiersforhorses.org
Indianapolis Star
January 12, 2007
Slot Matchine Legislation Gets a Fresh Look
Turnover of control, need for revenue mean horse tracks could get the devices
By Mary Beth Schneider
Slot machines may be coming to Indiana horse racing tracks.
Two bills that would allow slot machines at horse racing tracks have been filed: House Bill 1402, sponsored by Rep. Scott Reske, D-Anderson, and House Bill 1441, sponsored by Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson. The proposals will be debated in the House Public Policy Committee. No hearing dates have been scheduled yet.
Political changes in the Indiana House and Senate, combined with the state's need to find money to fund such things as full-day kindergarten, have created the most favorable conditions in years for advocates of putting the machines at the struggling tracks.
House Bill 1402, filed by Rep. Scott Reske, D-Anderson, would allow 1,500 slot machines each at the Hoosier Park track in Anderson and the Indiana Downs track in Shelbyville and at two off-track betting parlors in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.
He expects wagering taxes on the machines would raise more than $200 million in revenue. Some money would go to the counties where the tracks are located and some to the state to pay for full-day kindergarten, health-care coverage for the uninsured and increased benefits for members of the military.
House Bill 1441, filed by Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson, would allow up to 2,500 slot machines each at the two horse-racing tracks, but not at off-track sites. Under her proposal, profits also would be divided between local and state government, with the state's share paying for full-day kindergarten, economic development, new technology for Indiana schools and a study of mass transit.
House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said passage is "a long shot" but that the bills will get a hearing in the House Public Policy Committee.
Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said that while he opposes an expansion of gambling, he will not block legislation based on his personal views. If a bill on this or any other issue passes the House, he said, "my tendency is to allow them to have a hearing (in the Senate). I am not going to let my personal opinions stop issues from being heard in committees."
Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, the chairman of the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee, also said he was open to letting legislators debate the issue.
If the legislature did approve the bills, they would go to Gov. Mitch Daniels, who in the past has said he opposes an expansion of gambling.
So far, no bill has been filed to legalize video gambling, commonly called Cherry Masters. Bauer said he opposes such a move because it would mean gambling on almost every block in the state rather than in isolated locations. Long agreed that Cherry Masters have "proliferated like cockroaches," but said that if elimination isn't possible, he'd rather the state regulated them.
In 2004, a bill sponsored by Reske allowing slots at the racetracks passed the House 53-39 but died in the Senate with no hearing.
"I think it's got a good chance this year," Reske said. "Here's why: If you want to fund kindergarten, if you want to fund health care and the military -- all three things that the governor's put on the table -- the only way you're going to fund those adequately is through Cherry Masters or slot machines."
Austin also said she's optimistic and that the fate of the racetracks and the horse-racing and breeding industry in Indiana is at stake.
Michael Brown, executive director of the Indiana Horse Racing & Breeding Coalition, which represents the two tracks, said allowing the slot machines "will help preserve an Indiana agribusiness while providing vital state and local revenue in a tight budget year."
But David Robertson, a board member with the Washington-based National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, called slot machines "the crack cocaine of the gambling industry."
Granting them to boost business at racetracks, he said, would make as much sense as letting a struggling pharmacy start selling crack.