Indiana: pro-gambling groups lobby for video gaming legislation

The coalition, made up of the Indiana Amusement & Music Operators Association, Indiana Licensed Beverage Association and Indiana Bowling Centers Association, is lobbying for legislation that would permit video gaming terminals in non-casino businesses.

The video terminals typically offer poker, blackjack and other casino-type games, leading operators of the state’s casinos to oppose them as an unfair disrupter of their heavily regulated and taxed industry.

But the Video Gaming Coalition argues VGTs would generate $165 million in new tax revenue, with a portion of the taxes going to local governments that are home to VGT-owning businesses and a portion going to the state.

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The local taxes would go toward roads and related infrastructure, said Bill Smythe, a Fishers bar owner and governmental affairs advocate for the IAMOA. Under the proposal, counties that are home to casinos could ban VGTs

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IAMOA President Jerry Wilson, of Fort Wayne, said Illinois casino revenue has been more stable than Indiana’s since the state authorized VGTs in 2012, and VGTs have allowed tax revenue from gambling to grow.

“There are other reasons Indiana casino revenue is dropping,” Wilson argued, including competition from nearby out-of-state casinos.

But casino industry representatives insist that VGTs would take business from them. Local casino operators say Illinois VGTs are particularly harmful in attracting more casual gamblers, who spend less but help sustain casinos’ slot machine revenue.

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Wagering and admissions taxes, as well as regulations, constitute a carefully balanced deal between the state and casino companies, industry leaders argue

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The benefit for casinos is that the number of licenses are tightly limited, while communities and regions have benefited from the jobs, major capital investment, and tax revenue generated.

Casino Association of Indiana President and CEO Matt Bell said the industry needs to sustain a revenue level that allows casinos to be successful.

“The industry exists to promote local economic development and job growth,” Bell said. “Those were the reasons the Indiana General Assembly legalized casinos in the 1990s.”