INDIANAPOLIS - Plans for construction of a multipurpose arena in Downtown Evansville got a boost Wednesday as state lawmakers advanced a plan to steer money from the local innkeepers and food and beverage taxes toward financing it.
The House unanimously approved House Bill 1604, a hybrid bill that folds Rep. Dennis Avery's arena funding plan together with similar provisions for Fort Wayne. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Intended to replace aging Roberts Stadium, the new Evansville arena would rely on several funding sources, some of which require the Legislature's approval.
Avery, D-Evansville, said the bill would make two changes to local taxes that would free up money for the arena. It would extend the 2 percent Vanderburgh County innkeepers tax, which was set to drop to 1 percent at the end of this year, and it would allow surplus revenues from the county food-and-beverage tax to pay for the arena.
Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel had urged lawmakers to pass the legislation.
The Evansville City Council, Vanderburgh County Council and Vanderburgh County Commissioners had passed resolutions supporting the tax proposal.
As they neared Wednesday's midnight deadline to pass House bills and send them on to the Senate and vice versa, lawmakers rushed to pass a long list of legislation. In other Statehouse action:
The state's casinos and horse track "racinos" would receive four years of tax breaks under House legislation approved Wednesday. House Bill 1729, which passed 58-39, would allow Indiana's 11 riverboat casinos - including Evansville's Casino Aztar - to achieve some tax savings based on the money they spend on promotions. It also would cut tax rates for the state's two horse tracks with slot machines.
Casinos sometimes offer customers free games or credits, and currently, those free plays are taxed. The bill allows casinos to subtract up to $5 million of the money they spend on those promotions from their wagering revenue and thus not have to pay taxes on the plays they give away.
Robert "Tom" Dingman, the trustee appointed by the Indiana Gaming Commission to operate Casino Aztar during its ownership transition, said he had not had a chance to analyze what the legislation would mean for Aztar's bottom line.
"The intent was to help make the Indiana casinos a bit more competitive with those in other states that don't have gaming taxes, like in Michigan," Dingman said Wednesday. "By the time (the bill) gets out of the Senate, we could be talking about something completely different."
The House voted 73-25 to pass Rep. Suzanne Crouch's bill to pause expansion of the state's problematic welfare-eligibility system into 33 remaining counties.
House Bill 1691 would not allow the Family and Social Services Administration to use a private contractor to decide clients' eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps and welfare benefits until a legislative study committee reviews the issue.
The legislation would prevent the agency from expanding the rollout of its welfare-modernization program beyond the 59 counties where it already operates.
A team led by IBM Corp. signed a $1.16 billion privatization contract with the Daniels administration to modernize welfare-eligibility screening, so that clients could apply for state benefits online or through a toll-free call center. But lawmakers such as Crouch, R-Evansville, have been besieged with complaints from constituents who say the new system loses their documents, causes long delays and is hard to navigate. The bill next moves to the Senate, where Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, is a sponsor.
Bickering in the House sidetracked a proposal to help fix the state's bankrupt unemployment insurance fund, although lawmakers say the issue will be revived. Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, warned Wednesday that if it is not resolved, the Legislature could be headed for an "overtime" special session.
The House proposal would have raised taxes on employers to help balance the unemployment trust fund.
The account pays out millions of dollars more in jobless benefits than it collects and is relying on federal loans to issue unemployment checks.
Bill author Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, said he would not seek a vote on it Wednesday - the deadline to pass bills in the Democratic-controlled House - because House Republicans weren't willing to join in supporting the tax increase.
Republicans said majority Democrats should pass the bill themselves if they think the legislation is the right way to go. Both sides said the issue must be revived in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.