INDIANAPOLIS | It's now up to Gov. Mitch Daniels to decide whether Indiana bars and taverns will be allowed to offer pull tabs, raffles and other low-stakes forms of paper gambling.
The Indiana House voted 53-42 Tuesday to accept changes the Senate made to the gaming bill, which supporters say would put liquor-pouring businesses on par with private clubs.
"They are struggling to survive," said the bill's author, Rep. Dennis Tyler, D-Muncie. "It's for bars and taverns. It's simply to try to help them."
Veterans halls and similar nonprofits have had the right to sell the games of chance for years, and tavern owner argue they should have been dealt in when legislators created a new licensing system last year. Opponents, meanwhile, see another unwarranted expansion of legalized gambling.
"I'm convinced that next year we're going to be selling pull tabs to kindergarten classes so they can fund their school education," Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Lakeville, said eliciting a chorus of groans from House colleagues.
Legislators last year voted to let horse racing tracks in Anderson and Shelbyville install 2,000 slot machines apiece, a move that brought the state $500 million in upfront licensing fees. Lawmakers passed another 2007 law banning video poker and electronic slots in bars and taverns.
The current legislation would allow bars to sell pull tabs, punchboards and raffle tickets for up to $1 each. Tyler said the state could reap an estimated $2.8 million a year in distribution and licenses fees.
Most of the games would offer a maximum grand prize of $599 and up to $5,000 in total prizes, with bars required to pay out at least 60 percent of collections. The Senate added provisions to allow winner-take-all raffles of up to $300.
Opponents say as many as 6,000 bars and taverns in Indiana might take advantage of the games, which they argue would make gambling too widespread.
A spokeswoman said Daniels would review the legislation when it reaches his desk, at which point he will have seven days to sign or veto the measure. The Republican governor was noncommittal when asked about the proposal last month.
"If the Legislature passes it, I'll give it a good look," Daniels told reporters Feb. 15. "I'll just have to wait and see if and what they might pass."
