Lifting cruising requirement now unlikely this year

Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 1:57 a.m.

An effort by Indiana's casino industry to allow dockside gambling appears dead in the water for this year's abbreviated session of the General Assembly.

None of the bills to lift the requirement that floating casinos must be under way for gambling to occur had received committee hearings by Thursday's deadline - virtually ending their chances to pass.

And key legislators have said they will use parliamentary rules, if necessary, to ensure the issue isn't resurrected and attached to another bill as the session winds down in late February or early March.

"Needless to say, we are disappointed," said Rick Mazer, chairman of the Casino Association of Indiana. "We have not given up complete hope, although it looks grim. We will regroup and evaluate."

Whether Indiana's floating casinos should be permanently moored became an issue after Illinois lifted its cruising requirement in July, generating a big surge in revenue for its boats. Gamblers say they prefer the greater freedom with docked casinos, which become indistinguishable from those on land.

The casino association argues floating casinos in Indiana, especially those on Lake Michigan and on the Ohio River in Evansville, are at a competitive disadvantage and that the state is losing potential revenue.

The group wants the Legislature to repeal the provision in state law that mandates two-hour gambling cruises, a requirement that already is routinely waived under certain circumstances.

Mazer noted that the five Lake Michigan boats and Casino Aztar in Evansville have seen profits drop or stagnate since the rules changed for boats in Illinois. The next step in that state may be to abandon floating casinos and put larger, more lavish casinos on barges.

"Once those barges get open and we have not made progress, we will see dramatic deterioration," predicted Rick Mazer, general manager of the Hammond Empress.

R. Bruce McKee, who took over as general manager of Trump Casino in Gary in November, said seeing what's happening at casinos elsewhere frustrates him.

"Virtually all states have seen the light," he said. "We have proven our legitimacy, if you will."

Dockside gambling could add hundreds of jobs and boost casino revenues and taxes paid by 20 percent or 25 percent, McKee said.

Lawmakers, however, must first take swift action because of the difficulty in winning back lost patrons, said Joe Domenico, general manager of Harrah's in East Chicago.

"Once customers establish a routine, it is difficult to undo," he said.

New Albany resident Walter Schulz said he has his doubts that the issue won't resurface during the current legislative session.

Schulz, a member of Southern Indiana Citizens Against Gambling, said everyone thought legislation to authorize casino gambling was dead toward the end of the 1993 session - until the authorization passed on the final day as part of the budget bill.

"I will not breathe a sigh of relief until the session is completed," he said.