Senate Republicans: Time to crack down on in-state illegal gambling

INDIANAPOLIS – Some Indiana Senate Republicans said Monday they want to crack down on illegal video gambling machines statewide by stepping up enforcement and enacting stricter penalties.\nSen. James Merritt, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said they want to amend a charity gaming bill to include new provisions against the machines, sometimes called “Cherry Masters.”\nTheir proposal would set aside money to hire 25 more state excise enforcement officers to investigate illegal gambling. It would also increase penalties to include the possible revocation of licenses for selling tobacco, alcohol or lottery products.\n“This is a different approach,” Long said. “It’s worth talking about.”\nCherry Masters look like slot machines but are unfair to players, said James Maida, president of Gaming Laboratories International, a New Jersey company that tests gambling devices for many states. Maida told the Senate Rules Committee that the machines can be programmed to pay far less than a typical slot machine and give players a disadvantage.\n“It’s worse than chance because it’s not even random,” he said.\nIndiana State Excise Police Superintendent Alex Huskey said the provision tying the machines to tobacco and lottery sales could be a benefit, especially when trying to get the machines out of places like truck stops.\n“That would certainly help us,” he said.\nThe committee, chaired by Long, discussed the provisions Monday but did not vote on them. Long said the committee could meet again later this week or next week to decide whether to move forward with the proposal.\nSeveral bar owners and the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association support legalizing electronic gaming machines at bars and taverns, and some lawmakers support efforts to regulate and tax the machines instead of cracking down on them.\nLong and Merritt’s proposal could be inserted into a charity gambling bill that would make several changes for nonprofit organizations. The bill would create an annual charity game night license so that organizations could hold up to three gaming events per week with some restrictions. The bill would also allow nonprofit organizations to sell pull tabs and some other gambling devices year round.\nMeanwhile, the Senate on Monday approved several amendments to a bill that would allow slot machines at Indiana’s two horse-racing tracks. That bill would allow each track to pay a $400 million licensing fee to install up to 1,500 slot machines.\nThe $800 million raised by the fees would have been put into various funds, including an Indiana Life Sciences Fund to promote university research. But one of the changes the Senate approved Monday would instead funnel the money to the state’s general fund, where lawmakers would allocate the money through the typical budgeting process.