Dockside gambling debated

The Majestic Star sits still in the ice-covered water of a marina in Buffington Harbor in Gary, Ind.\nThrongs of people, smoking cigarettes and warming their hands with their breath, hurry to get aboard. Pockets rattle with change for the nickel slots.\nBut the Star isn't going anywhere. From November through April, the riverboat casino is docked, unable to navigate Lake Michigan.\nStill, customers can board the boat for the "cruises" every two hours. State law bans dockside gambling, meaning they only have minutes to get on between two-hour blocks. The doors remain locked until the "cruise" has ended. It doesn't matter if the engine isn't even turned on.\nMany state legislators reject the idea of dockside gambling, saying it's a step on a slippery slope toward land-based casinos. Others simply oppose the idea on moral grounds.\n"I'd support anything to discourage gambling," said State Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington. "I'd support anything to make it harder for a person with a problem with gambling to lose everything they have." \nTheir counterparts from the northwestern part of the state plan on making a push this session for allowing the practice.\nRep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, has already introduced legislation to permit dockside gambling while increasing the riverboat boarding fee going to the state from $3 to $4.\nIt's been a hotly contested issue since Illinois legalized dockside gambling in 1999, which the casino operators said has given its boats a competitive edge. \n"With the stiff competition from dockside gaming in Illinois, we must ensure that our riverboat industry can compete on a level playing field," Pelath said. "Let's not let our riverboats go the way of our banks, where a state-imposed disadvantage forces them to leave Indiana." \nPelath said a similar bill he filed last spring was never given consideration on the floor. \nBut the prospect of freeing the state's 10 casino riverboats from specific boarding times look more rosy this time around. \nGov. Frank O'Bannon proposed using $410 million of gambling taxes in the budget he submitted to the General Assembly last week. It hasn't been done since riverboat gambling came to Indiana in 1995.\nThe governor's office defends the move, citing shrinking projected state revenues and a slowing economy. It's a means of balancing the budget while Indiana rides out a downturn, State Budget Director Betty Cockrum said. \n"We continue to see signs of a slowing economy," she said. "We are faced with some hard choices."\nIndiana lobbyists just released a study projecting that legalization of dockside gambling would reap a windfall of tens of millions of dollars of extra state revenue. According to Crowe Chizek, an Indianapolis accounting firm commissioned by the Casino Association of Indiana, it could generate an additional $162 million in gaming and admissions taxes, or $328 million during the state's next budget session. \nAnd the statistics from Illinois' boats have come in after the state's first year of dockside gambling. The study also finds that admissions to Illinois riverboats increased 42 percent in the second half of 1999, while admission across the state border shrunk 1.8 percent during the same period.\n"We're facing significant challenges from neighboring states," said Joseph Domenico, chairman of the casino association. "That provides a potential threat to tax revenues generated by Indiana casinos."\nDuring the past five years, state records show gambling taxes have brought in more than $1.5 billion, with $212 million going to local governments.\nOfficials in Gary said the casinos bring more than $25 million a year into city coffers, allowing abandoned buildings to be torn down and roads to be repaved.\n"Our streets are being repaired," said State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, who was a public school teacher in the steel city for 37 years. "Our curbs are being restored, our parks are being renovated and people are using them. It's just amazing."\nThe money has also been poured into projects, such as building a stadium for a minor league baseball team and preparing for the arrival of the Miss USA pageant next year.\n"We're trying to use the money that comes in for infrastructure," Rogers said. "That way, we'll have investments long after the boats have weighed anchor and sailed."\nWhile dockside gambling will be debated this session, dwindling state coffers might not prove enough to win over many opponents.