{"id":103673,"date":"2019-04-25T10:17:23","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T17:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=103673"},"modified":"2019-04-25T10:17:23","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T17:17:23","slug":"indiana-passes-biggest-gambling-expansion-package-in-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/indiana-passes-biggest-gambling-expansion-package-in-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Legislature Passes Biggest and Most Controversial Gambling Expansion Package in Decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana lawmakers passed a controversial bill in the dying minutes of the legislative session in Indianapolis on Wednesday, sending the state\u2019s biggest gaming expansion package in decades to the desk of Governor Eric Holcomb.<\/p>\n

\"Eric
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb was criticized last month when it was discovered he had accepted several free flights on a plane belonging to the owners of Spectacle Entertainment. (Image: WFYI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

House Bill 1015 is not so controversial because it would legalize full-scale mobile sports betting \u2013 although this is always guaranteed to ruffle some feathers \u2013 it\u2019s more to do with the movement in inland of two Gary riverboat casinos, recently purchased by Spectacle Entertainment.<\/p>\n

Tax Breaks <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Majestic Star I and Majestic Star II, moored on Buffington Harbor on Lake Michigan, operate as a single casino but are technically separate entities with separate licenses.<\/p>\n

The bill would allow Spectacle to move one license to a more prominent area of Gary, while the other would be relocated 172 miles south to Terre Haute. Spectacle would then be required to compete for the Terre Haute license with other operators as part of a competitive bidding process.<\/p>\n

\n

Spectacle would be permitted the same number of gaming positions at the relocated Gary casino as it had at Majestic Star I and Majestic Star II combined, which means it could potentially become the largest casino in the state. But it would still be paying taxes as if it owned the two smaller, lower-revenue riverboat casinos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rep. Ben Smaltz (R-Auburn) a critic of the bill, said told the House Wednesday that Spectacle could benefit by $40 million to $50 million over five years.<\/p>\n

“This is a monumental policy shift, and this is the beginning,” Smaltz warned, as reported by The Indianapolis Star<\/em>.\u00a0“…This issue is going to come back and haunt us in the future.”<\/p>\n

Frequent Flyer \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Eyebrows have also been raised by Gov. Holcomb\u2019s perceived cozy relationship with Spectacle. The governor was criticized recently for accepting rides on a private jet belonging to the company’s owners Rod Ratcliff and Greg Gibson, which gave the two men hours of unrestricted access to the governor.<\/p>\n

Holcomb admitted that he \u201coverheard discussions\u201d about Spectacle\u2019s casino plans but that no questions related to casinos were directed at him. Holcomb’s campaign treasurer described the flights as “perfectly legal and customary.”<\/p>\n

Also in the bill is a provision that would authorize live table games for racetracks and one that would raise the cap on the number of casinos a single operator can own in the state from two to six. Some lawmakers are concerned this could allow one entity to come to dominate a market that the state heavily relies on for tax revenues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana lawmakers passed a controversial bill in the dying minutes of the legislative session in Indianapolis on Wednesday, sending the state\u2019s biggest gaming expansion package in decades to the desk of Governor Eric Holcomb. House Bill 1015 is not so controversial because it would legalize full-scale mobile sports betting \u2013 although this is always guaranteed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":103674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIndiana Passes Biggest Gambling Expansion Package in Decades<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Indiana bill that would authorize sports betting and allow Spectacle Entertainment to relocate riverboat casinos heads to the desk of Gov. Eric Holcomb.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indiana Passes Biggest Gambling Expansion Package in Decades\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Indiana bill that would authorize sports betting and allow Spectacle Entertainment to relocate riverboat casinos heads to the desk of Gov. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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