New legislation has been introduced to the Indiana House of Representatives that will change many of the current restrictions on gambling, a huge source of money for the state.
This year, nine bills have been authored that address gaming and gambling regulations, six of which pertain specifically to charity gaming, where all proceeds are ?donated to a charitable cause.
One of these bills, House Bill 1540, which addresses a variety of gambling matters, was introduced into the House Committee on Public Policy in January and was approved by the committee by a margin of 10-2.
Some of the components of the bill include authorizing riverboat casinos to move inland to adjacent properties, removing obsolete provisions in the tax law for casinos and authorizing the use of table games at racetrack casinos. It also would establish the Indiana Gaming Investment Tax Credit for certain investments made by the owners of ?riverboats.
The bill was authored by State Rep. Tom Dermody, ?R-LaPorte, who is also the chair of the Committee on Public Policy. His fellow representative from the committee and co-author on the bill, Terri Austin, estimated that the legislation could increase state revenues by as much as $4.1 million and another $800,000 in revenue to local ?communities.
“While I know that it is tempting to simply label this as a gaming bill, people should know that HB 1540 is a jobs bill,” Austin said in a press release. “It will mean the retention of jobs at existing operations across the state, and it will mean as many as 150 new jobs at Hoosier Park in Anderson and Indiana Grand near Shelbyville. These jobs will pay good wages and benefits and play a key role in revitalizing one of Indiana’s key industries. Most importantly, we can achieve all of this without costing taxpayers a dime.”
Austin also offered an amendment to HB 1540 that would enable the two racetrack casinos to offer live table games. Right now, racetrack casinos can only offer ?electronic table games.
According to the fiscal report issued by the Indiana Gaming Commission for the 2014 fiscal year, there has been a recent decline in revenue from casinos and gambling facilities, a trend which this bill hopes to reverse.
“Fiscal year 2014 marked the first complete year the four casinos in Ohio were fully operational,” Executive Director of IGC Ernest Yelton said in the report. “It also represented the lowest tax revenue for the State of Indiana since 2002.”
There are 13 gambling institutions in Indiana, including two racetrack casinos, one land-based casino and 10 riverboat casinos.
A fiscal note was prepared for the legislation Jan. 25 by Rhandir Jha, a senior fiscal and program analyst for the Indiana Legislative Services Agency.
In his analysis, he suggested that the passage of the bill would result in an increased workload for the Indiana Gaming Commission, which would be paid from riverboat wagering tax revenue that is annually appropriated for ?administrative purposes.
Following its approval by the Committee on Public Policy, the bill has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, after which it will be introduced to the House for ?debate and a vote.
