TERRE HAUTE —
A rosier tax revenue forecast may mean good news for the Indiana horse-racing industry.
On Monday, the state Senate appropriations committee restored millions of dollars in gaming-related funding created to boost horse racing in the state.
The restored funding is part of a revised budget bill that also adds $150 million in new funding for K-12 education and beefs up the state’s surplus to $1 billion by 2013. The budget bill is scheduled for debate in the Senate today.
The House version of the budget bill had slashed dollars set aside to promote and subsidize horse racing by 57 percent, from about $60 million down to $27 million.
A revised economic forecast unveiled by state budget analysts late last week boosted the chances for the funding to be restored. The new revenue forecast predicts the state will take in $644 million more than previously expected between July 2011 and July 2013.
Statehouse Republican leaders want much of it to be put into reserves. But Sen. Luke Kenley, the Senate appropriations committee chairman, pushed to restore the gaming funding, citing a Purdue University study that found horse racing had a $1 billion economic impact on the state.
“It’s an investment that’s paying off,” Kenley said Monday, adding that the legislature also had an obligation to keep the promise it made four years ago to support the industry’s growth.
That “promise” was made by state lawmakers who approved setting aside millions of dollars generated by the state’s two “racinos” — the combined horse tracks and casinos in Anderson and Shelbyville — and spend that money to help expand horse racing in Indiana.
Much of the money set aside goes toward prize money to lure competitors to races. The state’s horse breeders benefit because race horses bred and born in Indiana are eligible to win a bigger piece of the purse.
State budget-makers had initially proposed a cut in that funding, saying the revenues brought in by racino gambling could be used to pay for other things.
But the horse industry fought back. In March, the Senate appropriations committee heard testimony from horse breeders and others who had relocated their businesses to Indiana after the legislature passed the law that compelled the racinos to share 15 percent of their adjusted gross revenues with the state’s horse industry.
Staff members from the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, the state government entity that oversees the industry, also testified that the number of registered thoroughbreds, standardbreds and quarter horses in the state had increased over the last three years, an indicator the industry is growing.
Maureen Hayden is Tribune-Star Statehouse bureau chief.
Indiana Legislature
‘Racino’ subsidies are back on track
Senate committee restores funding to boost state’s horse industry
- Indiana Legislature
-
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
INDIANAPOLIS — An overhaul of Indiana’s criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison has been approved by the Legislature.
-
Budget deal calls for 5 percent income tax cut
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana taxpayers will see their personal income tax rate reduced by 5 percent over the next four years under a budget plan agreed to by state lawmakers.
-
Revoked charters could be forgiven $12M in loans
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering forgiving $12 million in loans that “failing” charter schools accepted from the state.
-
Indiana House set to vote on school safety grant plan
INDIANAPOLIS — A stripped-down proposal that would start a state grant program toward helping school districts hire police officers and buy safety equipment is set to be voted on by Indiana legislators.
-
Indiana Senate approves minimal voucher expansion
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate is signing off on a limited expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
-
Group, bill promote natural gas fueling stations
INDIANAPOLIS — Natural gas advocates want to create incentives for building fueling stations across the state in hopes that more people will operate vehicles using alternative fuels.
-
Senate OKs smaller tax cut than Pence wants
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be holding firm to his demand for a 10-percent income tax cut, despite some movement from Senate Republicans who are willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Pence: Indiana Senate GOP income tax cut not enough
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence says an income tax cut in the Indiana Senate’s proposed budget is a start but he’ll still push for the $500 million cut he has proposed.
-
Indiana Senate leader against school guns mandate
INDIANAPOLIS — The leader of the Indiana Senate has come out against a proposal that would require all public schools in the state to have an employee armed with a loaded gun.
-
House panel approves HIP expansion, strips grants
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana House panel has altered a plan that would use the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in the state.
-
Bill seeks in-state tuition for some immigrants
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering rolling back the state’s two-year-old immigration law so that illegal immigrants who were attending public colleges then would again be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
-
Bill for tougher Indiana abortion pill law advances
INDIANAPOLIS — A legislative committee has endorsed a proposal that would make Indiana clinics that provide only abortion drugs face the same requirements as clinics that perform surgical abortions.
-
Bill to ban Indiana teacher union deductions advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana public schools would be prohibited from handling paycheck deductions for teachers union dues under a proposal endorsed by a Republican-led legislative committee.
-
Bill advances shifting Indiana voucher oversight
INDIANAPOLIS — A Republican-controlled legislative committee has approved a proposal to shift administration of Indiana’s private school voucher program away from the new Democratic state schools superintendent.
-
Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back
INDIANAPOLIS — Republican lawmakers have scaled back a large proposed expansion of Indiana’s private school voucher system.
-
Pence unhappy with GOP budget, Dems seek tax vote
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence is deriding House Republicans’ state budget plan that would replace his proposed tax cut with more spending on roads and education.
-
Grants proposed to add police at Indiana schools
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers say they hope to improve security at schools around the state by offering grants toward hiring police officers and buying safety equipment.
-
Indiana Sunday alcohol sales ban likely to remain
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s longtime ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales will likely continue for at least another year as a vote isn’t being scheduled on a bill to lift it.
-
Indiana bill targets undercover video ‘vigilantes’
INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate panel has approved a bill that would make it a crime to take photographs or shoot footage at Indiana’s farms and businesses without the owner’s permission.
-
Bill would give high-performing schools more flexibility
After focusing on failing schools in recent legislative sessions, some Indiana lawmakers say it’s time to reward high-performing schools with more money and more flexibility.
-
Indiana Senate approves right to hunt, farm proposal
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana voters would decide in next year’s election whether to add the right to hunt, fish and farm to the state constitution under a proposal approved by state senators.
-
Indiana lawmakers push for Sunday alcohol sales
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers hoping to allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday are facing opposition from liquor store owners, who worry the policy could put them out of business.
-
Bill advances to loosen Indiana superintendent rules
INDIANAPOLIS — School superintendents would no longer have to hold an Indiana superintendent’s or teacher’s license under a bill endorsed today by an Indiana House committee.
-
Bill aims to tighten Indiana laws over ‘bath salts’
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana legislators are again trying to toughen state laws that prohibit businesses from selling synthetic drugs known as “bath salts” and other nicknames.
-
Cold medicines could face tighter Indiana limits
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana Senate committee has backed tougher limits on quantities consumers may buy of cold medications that can be used to make methamphetamine.
-
Indiana senators seek new social networking ban
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Republican lawmakers are looking for a new way to keep registered sex offenders off social media one week after a federal appeals court found a previous ban unconstitutional.
-
Indiana House OKs looser rules on selling old schools
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House has approved a bill that would shorten the time that school districts must hold onto vacant buildings in case a charter school operator wanted to move into the building.
-
Indiana lawmakers don sneakers for anti-cancer effort
INDIANAPOLIS — Numerous Indiana lawmakers and staff members are wearing sneakers around the Statehouse as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer activity sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
-
UPDATE: Indiana lawmakers consider protecting right to hunt
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers have delayed action on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.
-
Top Indiana senator seeks gas plant contract review
A top Indiana senator is calling for a review of Indiana’s plans to subsidize a proposed coal-gasification plant.
- More Indiana Legislature Headlines
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo
Jersey Shore Open for Business
Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
Today in History May 24
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying
Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington
SeaWorld: Penguins Are Coolest Thing in Florida
AK-47-wielding thug may be the most bumbling crook ever
Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage
Trout's cycle a boost for Angels
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
Kim Kardashian Flaunts Pregnant Bikini Body in Greece
NBA star pledges $1M to help tornado recovery
Shakira's Shocking Talent
Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air
GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape
Elin Nordegren Furious With Lindsey Vonn For Parading Kids in Public
Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls
Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place
Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill
DWTS Crowns a Winner
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House
Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor
Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up
VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal
The Hangover Baby All Grown Up
