There was a time when threats by Gov. Mitch Daniels meant something.
The most recent warning suggested a shutdown of government if the mixed bag of political posturers known as the General Assembly did not pass a two-year budget by a midnight Tuesday deadline.
Daniels would have ordered the closure of non-essential state services. Locally, that would have most vividly translated into the sending home of gaming officials at Hoosier Park Racing and Casino and workers at Mounds State Park.
“It remains an unacceptable option to me,” Daniels said. “But I didn’t want to wait until 24 hours before this remote possibility could occur to let the public know what the consequences would be ...”
Turns out the threat was pure posturing by our governor; a worthless taunt that put the 16,000 casinos employees on edge.
As Tuesday’s deadline loomed, a loose coalition of casino and gaming companies in Indiana filed a temporary restraining order in Indianapolis against the state to keep the casinos open. The order, though moot because a budget agreement was reached, was granted by a judge.
According to the lawsuit, the closing would result in approximately a $3 million a day loss in tax revenue to the state. And this Daniels wanted to stop?
As the lawsuit claimed, all costs associated with the enforcement of Indiana Gaming Commission’s duties are paid by casinos, including the gaming agents who are on site at casinos.
Arguably, the money passes through the state coffers before ending up in gaming officials’ paychecks. The state would have the power to pull those agents from the casinos, but it seems that such a move doesn’t resolve any budget crisis.
Indeed, Daniels would do more damage by trying to make a rather ineffective point. We would have said the same prior to the approval of a budget.
Daniels has a long-standing belief that the casinos, though troubled financially, should not be given tax breaks. Hoosier Park has claimed that the state fees are crippling the company’s ability to survive in this bleak economy. It wants a tax break.
In Elwood recently, Daniels reiterated that he has no intention of bailing out Indiana’s two racinos. He blamed lawmakers for the $250 million licensing fee for the racinos. Instead, Daniels would have opted to auction the licenses to the highest bidder.
Gambling and sin taxes are easy targets in Indiana. But this state is mired too deep in gambling to ever foresee a time when it would not need tax revenues from racinos, horse tracks and every other now legal form of gambling.
There are also too many jobs tied into gambling for anyone to threaten a closure of an industry that, despite economic woes, provides a steady form of tax revenue.
Gov. Daniels made a bad decision in threatening a shutdown of government and put at least 16,000 lives on edge. The shutdown would have affected every Hoosier.
Hoosier Park and others wisely took steps in obtaining a temporary restraining order. Gambling may seem non-essential to him. But, as this juncture in our state’s history, it is an industry that contributes to the well-being of Indiana.
Editorials
Editorial: Governor’s shutdown threat a bad decision
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