The Indiana racing industry could soon find itself involved in the same type of heavyweight fight that the Ontario racing industry is currently involved in in order to survive.
According to a Tuesday report on indystar.com, Gov. Mike Pence’s administration is calling for the elimination of its partnership with the racing industry – something it now characterizes as a subsidy. The claim is that the industry, as its share of revenues, has received half a billion dollars over the last two decades.
"There is a better use of the money," said Pence’s spokeswoman, Christy Denault.
The state of Indiana turned over $56 million in tax money from a pair of Central Indiana casinos to racetracks in Anderson and Shelbyville in 2012, but clearly that number could change moving forward.
Former Gov. Mitch Daniels made a proposal to cut funding to the racing industry in 2011, but his efforts failed. Gov. Pence has proposed to eliminate the subsidy to the racing industry, as well, but the proposal figures to be challenged in the Statehouse by industry allies which include a former Speaker of the House, a former top aide to the current Speaker, two other former legislators, a former member of the Horse Racing Commission, and at least three of the state's most powerful lobbying firms.