spend at least $500 million

Voters in three Fort Wayne-area counties would decide whether a new casino could land there under a bill that’s cleared the General Assembly.

The Indiana House and Senate both endorsed a final bill version on Friday, sending it to the governor’s desk for action.

A requirement for the voter referendums in Allen, DeKalb and Steuben counties was only added to House Bill 1038 after the proposal narrowly cleared the Senate on Tuesday amid objections over the lack of those county votes.

Bill author Rep. Craig Snow, R-Winona Lake, said he and the vast majority of House Republicans believed the referendums were necessary — and that the bill wouldn’t have won passage without them.

“If a casino is going to go somewhere, we want broad support,” Snow told the Capital Chronicle after the House vote. “… At the end of the day, if the voters don’t want it, they should be able to say that.”

Previous casinos needed voter backing

Each time since Indiana lawmakers first authorized casinos in the 1990s, local residents have voted in a referendum.

The bill cleared the House 56-37 and the Senate by a 34-16 margin for what would be the state’s largest gambling expansion since 2019 when lawmakers approved the legalization of sports wagering and new casinos in Terre Haute and Gary. 

Gov. Mike Braun’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the bill’s passage.

The measure calls for this year’s November election ballot to include a casino referendum question in all three counties. The Indiana Gaming Commission could then only consider casino license requests for a county where voters supported the project — and must select a bid no later than April 15, 2027.

Whichever company wins the license, the bill would require it to spend at least $500 million on the casino and related amenities within five years. That company would also have to pay a $150 million fee to the state.

A state-commission study last year found that downtown Indianapolis would be the most profitable site for a new casino. A push for an Indianapolis casino, however, did not gain traction among legislators amid questions about its impact on existing casinos in Shelbyville and Anderson.

Rising Sun casino will remain

The initial version of this year’s casino bill set up a process for shifting Indiana’s lowest-performing casino from the Ohio River city of Rising Sun without establishing a new casino license.

The final version, however, leaves that casino in place after Ohio County and Rising Sun officials raised concerns about how the local governments could be compensated if the community lost the casino that is its largest employer and tax revenue source.

The casino in Rising Sun generates about $42 million a year in gross revenue and paid $3.6 million in state gaming taxes last year. Last year’s study projected that an Allen County casino could generate $204 million in revenue and $61 million in annual state taxes.

The Senate’s bill sponsor, Sen. Justin Busch, R-Fort Wayne, touted the casino proposal as “positioning our community for generational economic growth.”

“This legislation gives our region the opportunity for a half-billion-dollar resort-style development that would mean more jobs, new tourism and major investment in northeast Indiana,” Busch said in a statement.