Indiana Update: Week 3 Status

Bills must receive a hearing in their respective committees before the committee report deadline or they will be considered dead.

Now that all bills have been filed and made public, there are five gaming bills the iDEA team is closely monitoring.

• HB1536 – Rep. Manning’s iGaming bill. Apresent this is iDEA’s primary vehicle for authorizing iGaming in Indiana. While we do not have active language in any of the other bills, they will be potential vehicles if needed moving forward.
• HB1073, authored by Republican Rep. Alan Morrison; another live gaming bill this Session. HB1073 would change the appointment authority for the Indiana Gaming Commission, prohibit hold harmless agreements or agreements to offset a financial loss between a casino, riverboat, or unit of government and another unit of government concerning potential losses of revenue by the other unit of government, repeal the requirement that the licensed owner of a riverboat in Vigo County make payments to the city of Evansville, repeal language concerning a supplemental payment to East Chicago, Hammond, and Michigan City, and repeal the historic hotel district community support fee.
• HB1403, Gaming Revenue Distribution, would create a gaming revenue fund that would pool the wagering tax, sports wagering tax, and other gaming taxes. A portion of the pooled allocation would go to address and prevent problem gambling. Quarterly, the State Auditor would distribute a portion of the fund to each county in Indiana based on the ratio that the county’s population bears in relation to the state. Companion language has also been filed as SB401 in the Senate.
• HB1548, Video Gaming Terminals, seeks to authorize VGTs in Indiana. The bill would impose a 30% VGT wagering tax and establish a licensing structure for VGTs.

Key Dates

• Indiana General Assembly’s 2023 Legislative Session: Jan 9 – Apr 29 (statutory Sine Die)
• House of Representatives Key Dates
  • Jan. 12: House bill filing deadline
  • February 7: Potential Public Policy Committee hearing in which Rep. Manning’s HB1536 would be heard.
  • Feb. 23: Second reading deadline. Bills must get through House Committee by this date.
  • Feb. 27: Third Reading deadline.
  • Mar. 1-3: Entire legislature takes a short break and bills change chambers. Bills that are introduced that have not passed one chamber at the mid-point are technically considered “dead” bills and cannot be resurrected as stand-alone bills or considered for addition in a conference committee at the end of session. However, it is at least technically possible for language from a dead bill to be amended into a live bill during the second half of session, provided the subject matter of the amendment is deemed “germane” to the live bill.
  • April 13: Second reading deadline for Senate bills.
  • April 18-27: Conference Committees
  • April 27: Anticipated sine die
  • April 29: Statutory sine die (official end of Session)

• Senate Key Dates
  • Jan. 13: Senate bill filing deadline
  • Feb. 27: Second reading deadline
  • Feb. 28: Third reading deadline
  • Mar. 1-3: Entire legislature takes a short break and bills change chambers
  • April 17: Second reading deadline for House bills
  • April 19-27: Conference Committees
  • April 27: Anticipated sine die
  • April 29: Statutory sine die (official end of Session)

iDEA Engagement / Opportunities / Issues (in addition to ongoing items referenced in prior weeks) 

Ongoing Legislative Efforts

As referenced last week, HB1536 seemed to be on the rocks while VGT interests threatened to derail the bill. This week, the iDEA team on the ground in Indianapolis spent several days having conversations with Republican and Democrat members of the House Public Policy Committee to gauge concerns and address barriers to giving the bill a hearing in Committee. iDEA’s meetings included, but were not limited to:

• Rep. Steve Bartels (R) — would like to see a local revenue sharing solution feathered into the distribution of gaming revenue.
• Rep. Jim Lucas and Rep. Heath VanNatter (R) — will both likely follow the lead of Rep. Bartels.
• Rep. Matt Lehman (R), a senior member of Public Policy and member of the House leadership team — indicated that despite his opposition to iGaming, he wishes for the bill to be heard in committee.
• Public Policy Ranking Minority Member Rep. Justin Moed (D) — would like to see a local revenue sharing solution feathered into the distribution of gaming revenue. Also indicated that if this concern is addressed, he believes he can drive support for the bill with his three other Democrat colleagues.
• iDEA met several times with Chairman Manning to offer our support in lobbying his committee members and help him strategize. At the beginning of this week, we were unsure of the future of the bill;  at this end of this week, we feel there is renewed energy and desire to come to a consensus that will work for all committee members. Chairman Manning has indicated he is going back to his committee members and to leadership to work toward a solution. If HB1536 is given a hearing in Public Policy committee, the hearing would likely be on February 7.
• On the Senate side, Senator Jon Ford has provided support to Chairman Manning and has stayed in close contact with the iDEA team as he picks up intel from his House and Senate colleagues.

Legislation

HB1536, Representative Manning’s iGaming legislation, is live. HB1536 permits the following, among other provisions:

• Authorizes iGaming in Indiana for persons holding a license.
• Authorizes the Indiana Lottery to operate draw games and scratch-off games online.
• Imposes a 20% gross receipts tax on igaming.
• Provides revenue sharing to cities and counties in which brick and mortar casinos are located.
• Permits igaming licensees to offer three skins.
• Permits out-of-state wagers to be accepted from people not present in Indiana if the wagering is conducted pursuant to a reciprocal agreement.
• Establishes a voluntary exclusion program for problem gamers.
• Requires live game studios be located in Indiana.

Gathering Additional Senate Support

• Senate Pro Temp Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) remains very skeptical of moving an iGaming bill this session. In a statement, Bray cited several factors for his reticence, including the significant expansion of our gaming laws over the last four years, the fact that he doesn’t have constituents coming to him requesting iGaming, and that Indiana already ranks fourth in the nation for casino revenue.”
• Our focus will be the application of strategic pressure on Bray’s colleagues in his caucus to support bringing the issue before the public process.

Next Week

iDEA will stay in close contact with Chairman Manning as we await his green light that the bill has been scheduled for committee hearing. We will offer support to him and his members as they explore sharing of gaming revenue to non-gaming communities.