Gov. Mike Pence stated his opposition to land-based casinos last week, but Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, said his stance won’t prevent her from bringing up the matter during the 2015 session.
Evansville officials spoke to Pence about potentially moving the Tropicana Evansville Casino on land, but the governor said he prefers to seek “prudent and responsible ways that we could maintain the status quo” with casinos.
Rogers has been a longtime supporter of moving Gary’s Majestic Star casino and others inland, to compete against land-based casinos in Michigan, Illinois, and other neighboring states.
“I wasn’t really surprised by what he said since he’s had that posture all along,” Rogers said. “I’m much more hopeful that he’ll see the data on the negative impacts existing policies are having on local communities (in a study committee).”
State tax revenues from Indiana’s casinos are slumping, falling by $99 million, or about 13 percent during the fiscal year ending June 30, according to Indiana Gaming Commission.
Even though Pence may be against the move, a previous land-based casino bill that Rogers authored passed the Senate in 2013.
“Now that the honeymoon is over, I think the legislature has the most experience in this area and won’t be afraid to take a stance counter to the governor,” Rogers said. “You never know — after an election — what position someone is going to take.”
Pence sees moving casinos inland as “expanding gaming” but he said “it’s not my aim to reduce the role of gaming in our state budget or in our state’s overall economy,” he said.
Rogers sees that as an opening to a discussion about what actually constitutes an expansion of gaming and how the history of Indiana’s casino industry arose from the local level.
“There have been no incidents to cause us to regret being involved in the casino business,” Rogers said. “I just want us to treat casinos like any other business.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.