Slots to highest bidder?

If Indiana’s two pari-mutuel tracks are unwilling to pay the $400 million licensing fee to operate slots, a state senator has suggested the licenses could be auctioned by the state. Republican Luke Kenley, chairman of the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee, said Thursday that the right to operate slot machines could go to the highest bidder.

“The legislature has a fiduciary obligation to the citizens of the state to get as much as we can for the license,” Kenley said in a story posted on the Indianapolis Star website. “If we're not comfortable that the current holders of the facilities at the track are going to give us a reasonable license fee, then we just need to auction it off. That protects us from an integrity standpoint with the public because then if it's a public auction, then we get whatever we get.”

Kenley’s statement came following a conference committee meeting earlier in the morning. During the meeting officials from Centaur Inc., owner of Hoosier Park, told committee members the company could not pay more than $125 million for a license, and would require 2,000 slot machines to justify the purchase. Currently, the Senate version of House Bill 1835 calls for only 1,500 machines at each, a reduction from the 2,500 originally proposed.

HB 1835 passed the full Senate by a 27-21 margin Thursday, March 29. Once the measure reached the House April 2, Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, the bill’s author, sent it to conference committee. Van Haaften and Rep. Matt Whetstone, R-Brownsburg, were appointed to the conference committee earlier this week, joined by Senators Kenley and Tim Lanane, D-Anderson. The committee is now working on a compromise between the versions of HB 1835 adopted by each chamber. The General Assembly remains in session until April 29.--by James Platz

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