Justin Schneider, Herald Bulletin
justin.schneider@heraldbulletin.com
As amendments are heaped onto House Bill 1835, officials at Hoosier Park can only stand back and wait.
The Indiana Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a measure that would authorize slot machine gaming at Hoosier Park in Anderson and Indiana Downs in Shelbyville.
Two more amendments were made as the bill came before the Senate for a second reading on Monday. One sends the combined $800 million in licensing fees to the state general fund instead of the Indiana Life Sciences Fund or a property tax-relief fund.
"That's the will of the legislature - it has nothing to do with us," said Rick Moore, president and general manager of Hoosier Park. "There's a lot of very worthwhile places for the state to spend revenues."
Officials from Indiana Downs could not be reached for comment.
Amendments also channel $500,000 per track into a gambling addiction fund, and $250,000 per track into a horse racing integrity fund. Moore said he supports the intent behind the provisions, especially the integrity fund, which addresses illegal substances.
"The integrity fund, I think, is there to make sure that racing in Indiana is conducted probably more fairly than in any other state in the country," he said. "It further insures that everyone is competing on a level playing field."
Last week, the Senate's Tax and Fiscal Policy committee moved House Bill 1835 to the full senate with two costly amendments that reduced the number of slot machines from 2,500 per track to 1,500, and increased the one-time licensing fee to $400 million per facility. If the bill passes, it may be the largest such fee ever assessed.
Holly Thomsen, director of communications for the American Gaming Association, said Florida charges $3 million in annual licensing fees, while Pennsylvania requires a one-time payment of $50 million. Iowa uses a sliding scale, and Maine's licensing fee is based on the number of gaming machines.
"A licensing fee that high is certainly unusual," Thomsen said. "It's unusual to see a licensing fee increase four times over."
But Moore calls an amendment increasing the racing schedule at Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs reasonable. It would require both tracks to host live racing 140 to 160 days per year, limiting the number of races per day to 12.
"We can make that work; at one point we raced 193," said Moore, adding that Hoosier Park currently races 122 days per year. "What the legislature is trying to do is make sure we don't have too many races, to encourage quality."
While State Sen. Tim Lanane, D-District 25, has called the licensing fee a concern, he said further changes have been less significant.
"When we did bring the bill down for a second reading, the changes were really very minor," he said. "Most of it dealt with the distribution of the license fee and bolstering the authority of the (Indiana) Gaming Commission."
The Senate is set to reconvene at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. If HB 1835 passes the Senate, it would go to conference committee, where members of the House and Senate would draft a final form of the bill for re-approval.