Hoosiers have heard this one before when the General Assembly rolls around: This will be the year for live gaming to be approved in the racinos.
And every year Indiana waits while other states move in to take valuable tax dollars.
However, this is the year that live table gaming should be approved for racinos.
This year there will again be discussions over the request by casino operators to cut wagering and riverboat admission taxes. Without such cuts, it is difficult for those businesses to be competitive.
Casino owners have pushed previously for cuts but have run against Republican leaders in the Statehouse. After all, wagering and admission taxes bring in nearly $690 million to state and local governments. They once brought in more than $900 million a year, before the 2008 recession.
This year though, some Republicans like Rep. Tom Dermody of LaPorte say they're willing to take on the issue of making casinos competitive against out-of-state operations.
Locally, Hoosier Park — which along with Indiana Grand in Shelbyville — is owned by Centaur Gaming. Both facilities have seen declines in wins.
Those owners believe that they are hampered by being allowed to only offer slot machine games. They want to add live table games. And they should be allowed to do so. Indiana is too many years now into allowing casino operations for it not to adapt to changing business climates in other states.
The fear is that live table gaming would place Anderson and Shelbyville in direct competition with Indiana riverboats. Local residents, however, may argue that distance from the riverboats won't lead to direct competition. Owners can also argue that the state would benefit from an increase in revenue.
Republican leaders may not want to see any expansion of gambling, and that's understandable from a political perspective. But too many Indiana communities now rely on these facilities to provide jobs — 550 new jobs were created for local residents when the casino opened at Hoosier Park.
Allowing live dealers to work at the tables adds more jobs with those careers generally earning a mean annual salary of $20,890, based on 2013's national figures, realizing that many dealers work part-time. In Indiana, the mean annual salary is about $20,610.
The impact of adding live dealers to racinos may seem a tough issue to tackle. But Madison County residents can see the change as adding jobs to the community. And Hoosiers shouldn't have to wait until the next General Assembly meets before they see more jobs created.