Indiana mayor's plan KO'd

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson's plan to finance a new stadium by adding 1,500 pull-tab machines downtown was dismissed Thursday. Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma labeled the proposal, introduced in December, as "dead." However, there are still other plans for slots at the state's racetracks.



"The message I'd like to send to the mayor is he ought to find another financing mechanism for a dome downtown than putting a casino in the middle of the most family-friendly city in the Midwest," Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Thursday. "As far as I'm concerned, that proposal is dead."



According to a report in the Indianapolis Star News, Bosma said he was only speaking out about the idea of creating a Downtown betting establishment with slots. He said he was not offering any opinion about proposals to add slot machines at the tracks in Anderson and near Shelbyville.



Peterson's plan called for $46 million annually over 30 years to pay for a proposed $500 million retractable-roof stadium. The primary source of the funding would have been 1,500 pull-tab machines located in a downtown off-track parlor.



The Indiana House passed pull-tab legislation last year, but it ultimately died in the Senate.



Two House Republicans have offered plans to put 2,500 slot machines each at the horse tracks in Shelbyville and Anderson. The plan of Rep. Luke Messer, R-Shelbyville, would provide $30 million for Indianapolis, while setting aside some money for the tracks' home counties and up to $100 million annually for the state's general fund.



Rep. Michael Murphy, R-Indianapolis, said his bill would provide $48 million annually to build a new stadium, with the remainder going to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. for job creation efforts.



Peterson, though, questioned whether slot machines at the two horse tracks would raise enough money to build a new stadium and meet the state's other needs.

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