By John Byrne, Post-Tribune staff writer
Gary's casino licenses are the 800-pound moneymakers in the Statehouse.
As the state absorbs a financial punch in the gut in the form of a predictably stinky revenue forecast and as legislators try to craft a balanced state budget, fix the woefully underfunded unemployment system and bail out Indianapolis' professional sports arenas, those two Don Barden-owned gambling emporiums in Buffington Harbor are looking more and more enticing from Indianapolis.
Remember those Warner Bros. cartoons where a famished Donald Duck gazes on Porky Pig, but sees only a scrumptious-looking ham? Now you have an idea how state lawmakers view Gary's casinos.
"There are only so many things that can generate really big money, and gaming is right at the top of the list," a veteran Northwest Indiana legislator said last week, amid talk Gary's casinos could be on the move.
But we're really talking about two separate issues here, with two separate licenses.
Gary Mayor Rudy Clay would love to see one license head south, to land near the Borman Expressway.
That would require state intervention to allow a dry casino, so maybe he'll need to settle for a boat crammed into the Little Calumet River like a clot in an artery.
State Sen. David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said there's broad support for the Borman move, and it's easy to see why.
State officials don't really want to deal with Gary, if they can help it.
Understandable. Look at all the aspirin lawmakers are chewing over this Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board mess.
Trying to figure a way to fill the $47 million hole in the operating budget for the board, which governs the city's convention center and the arenas for the Pacers and Colts, all the legislature has managed to do is tick people off all over the state.
Think they want to wade into the quagmire of bankrupt Gary?
Helping the city solve its own problems with a new casino that doesn't have to compete with neighboring lakefront facilities in Hammond and East Chicago seems like a relatively painless fix.
But what to do with the other Majestic Star floater?
Long's Fort Wayne seems like a natural landing site for the underperforming casino. But Allen County wants a referendum on gambling before accepting the state's 11th license.
Indianapolis is a long shot candidate, too. There's your quick shot of cash to fix the CIB.
It seems unlikely legislators can agree on a deal to open the Indianapolis market during the final moments of the session, however.