Casino troubles move inland

Debate over whether boat casinos in Indiana can move inland continues as a new bill moves into the Statehouse.

Bill 405 would allow the move and make Indiana casinos more competitive than other casinos in surrounding states.

Ohio passed a bill last November that allowed casinos in four major cities, leaving many worried about how the new casinos would affect Indiana’s.

However, the wording that would allow casinos to do business on land was taken out in the Senate committee.

State Senator Ronnie Alting, R-Lafayette, said the Casino Association of Indiana did not support the wording that would allow for casinos to move inland, and this lack of support from the association prompted the Senate to take it out of the bill.

Casino Assocation President Mike Smith said a majority of people in the association did not want the wording in the bill.

Smith said boat casinos such as the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., that recently invested about $5 million in their casino, would lose more money from the bill rather than gain money.

“In the provision with the land base, there are winners and losers,” Alting said.

Alting said there are some casinos that have not spent money on recent renovations that would benefit from the bill, while others would end up losing money if casinos were allowed to move inland.

However, Alting said this does not mean the debate is over.

He said there is still a chance that House Representatives could put the wording back into the bill.

State Senator Earline Rogers, D-Gary, is one of the members trying to get the provision back into the bill, as Gary is one of the cities where the casinos would benefit from moving inland rather than staying on water.

Peg McLeish, press secretary for the Senate Democrats, said the bill would help the Gary area become more profitable.

“It would create more jobs,” she said. “It also means more revenue for the state.”