INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Gail Riecken (D-Evansville) said today she will move quickly to pursue legislation that will enable Vanderburgh County and other local units of government to recover potentially devastating losses in revenue that would result if suggested changes in state gaming laws take place.
Riecken said she will offer an amendment to House Bill 1540 to enable local units to recoup losses that would come from provisions in the legislation that take away nearly $58 million in support to the local governments with casinos and eliminate a casino admissions tax that provided added proceeds to local units.
“If these changes come to pass, Vanderburgh County, Evansville and the Convention and Visitors Bureau together will lose approximately $4.2 million in revenue after December 31, 2016 that is critical to the ongoing needs of residents in our area,†Riecken said.
“At a time when local units are suffering under intense financial burdens that make it difficult to do things like keep our roads clear, our streets safe, and ensure that residents get the regular daily services they deserve, it is entirely unacceptable to me and many others that we should accept some of the provisions that are contained in the current version of HB 1540,†she added.
“In that light, it seems only fair to provide a means for local units to get that revenue back, and in this current atmosphere, I must say that a wagering tax appears to be the best option available,†Riecken said. “I will move as quickly as possible to provide that option.â€
HB 1540 will first become eligible for amendment by Riecken and other House members on Monday.
Is the CCO so deep in the tank for Reicken because of political beliefs, or because she buys banner ads?
That really is the only question here.
The fawning is really getting over the top.
Why? Winnecke=Fail=Winnecke
Get your boss Winnecke to buy a banner ad and you will find out
It’s a press release by the way. It was sent to all of the media outlets. The CCO has traditionally printed press releases from whomever sends them in.
BTW, since you refuse to mention it, our mayor and congressman had a meeting at the statehouse to discuss and secure funding for the IU Med Center today. Seems a tad more important and newsworthy than a candidate saying she has an idea.
I need to get off of here and go to the C&P, WEHT and WFIE sites since they actually are reporting news and learn what happened here. When I want to amuse myself with Gail fluff, I will be back.
Maybe you don’t understand the severity of the situation. Winnecke and the previous administrations have spent tons of money on projects funded by this casino money. There is basically no way to pay for all these projects without the casino money. The mayor has heavily relied on this revenue source even though it is declining.
Did you miss this part where $58 million could be taken from local governments?
If the gaming revenue decreases that much, the Med school will have to go where it won’t cost the taxpayers any money. We have sewers to pay for.
You’re thinking rationally. Winnecke is thinking about boosting his campaign account and the next rung on the Republican ladder/totem pole. He ain’t got no time for stinking sewers.
Where does the money come from to upgrade sewers ?
Don’t let the door hit your big ass.
LOL
The Wrath of a super majority is showing it’s head once again. Your city did not listen to the advise given to them years ago about not relying on casino money as a steady source to their spending. Looks like in 2018 when the Arena was going to start the draw off of that money, it will be sucking air!
Looks as though Pence is sitting on the fence on this one yet. Could he be waiting for a little “green grease”?
The wrath, with the support of VECTREN is pushing SB1320 which allows the utility to charge higher rates to
solar panel owners to help cover the cost of the power grid!
Thanks Vectren!
Where is “California Joe” on this one!
California Joe supports net zero metering and takes full advantage of it with a solar system that supplies all of my needs. I think the Indiana SB1320 a regressive non-sensical paranoid attempt to stamp out clean energy and distributed generation. It is a step back toward the dark ages for Indiana. This bill is infuriating. It is up to those of you who still choose to live in Indiana to stomp this foolish bill into the Midwestern soil and send its supporters packing.
That said, I have no problem with a modest fee to support the infrastructure required to assure that my lights are on when the sun doesn’t shine. Last month my fee for grid connection was $1.83. That is too low. It should be about $10 per month.
Thanks Joe. This bill is totally insane and shows the most greedy side of Vectren ever exposed. Please call your senator and your representative and tell them that this is not an acceptable bill in any way and needs to be voted out of existence.
Joe, I forgot to add that for some staying here is not a choice as you referred to in your post. If all were as free to chose as some, Vectren would be sending bills to empty addresses and eventually closing their doors.
You nailed that one, Martha. Vectren is one of the biggest negatives in a city with a lot of them. Just a simple move across the river can solve that one, though. I look for Henderson to grow as Evansville shrinks.
One thing we agree. I am really surprised Henderson leaders, especially realtors and developers, haven’t pushed the “cheaper side of the bridge” campaign and marketed the advantages of living in Hendo versus Vectren-land.
Should the 69 bridge get built, creating alternative ways over the river in the case of bridge tie-ups, you could see a sizeable population shift crossing the river.
Absolutely ,Indiana no longer needs the dark aged archaic regressive governance that would even consider this type of nonsense. What the hell happened to the term “Free Enterprise”.
Seems the SB1320 could be smashed with the simple fact its not exactly inside of the parameters of the law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law
Winnecke got the Governor to pony up $19Million in cash toward the IU Med Center, then convinced the Legislature to commit approve $36Million in bonding capacity toward the project. Meanwhile Gail couldn’t get her colleagues in the House to ante up another $14Mill regardless of her newly found fondness for and ardent promotion of Downtown TIF funded development. How anyone thinks as a mayor that Gail will get more for Evansville out of a legislature she abandoned for a stint in Illinois is beyond me.
Well, I am sure that her colleagues were deeply impressed by her trying to use the bill to fund Master of Social Work scholarships at USI.
Now, before we say, “what the Harf was she thinking about,” we need to understand there is a carefully thought-out development plan here. As should be obvious to sophisticated elites, many people will flock to Evansville to use these scholarships, and they will use their MSW training to create numerous high-paying businesses here, so massively expanding the tax base. Also, during the construction of the medical school, these brawny students will eliminate the need for cranes, because for work-study jobs, they can simply lift the girders into place using an old-fashioned block and tackle.
Bullshit. You discount the State Representatives and State Senators and Congressman that represent this area. Buschon was putting out press releases yesterday about the medical center and meeting with Winnecke. Gail sits on Ways and Means. There is no one person who can take credit for this project. If there is, it’s Pat Shoulders.
Lloyd Winnecke has no sway whatsoever with the state legislature. He is a fool and is wisely staying out of Evansville all he can. I’ll bet poor ole Prez Pence wishes he’d go begging somewhere else for a while. He has partnered with another cipher, Bucshon. They will take credit for whatever Med. School money flows but whatever it is would have came anyway. Gail Riecken knows how things work in Indy and her good offices will facilitate Evansville receiving the maximum the state legislature will grant for the school.
They are all a cabal if idiots as long as the mere thought of building the school campus in the middle of that “worthless infrastructure” on the downtown Evansville proposed site is even realistically considered.
Worse case scenario for IU, Indiana and the citizens of Vanderburgh county , including the few new ones (the students themselves) that might be “regulated” to use such a logistically rotten throughput mess.
“Regulated” to more expensive daily utilities, time allotment, energy requirements to enter in to a rapidly evolving work force that must in fact begin to adapt to the predictable climate migrations of this century and beyond. Actually the site itself is the one that leaves the largest carbon footprint for anyone “regulated” to use it. Absolutely deplorable.
The choice is just as ghastly now as it was when our group first observed the mistake.
Line the downtown cronies pockets, the hell with everybody that must fund the abhorrent location.
What’s in your mailbox at the end of the driveway? looks like a bill for more cronies fuel.
You people are in need of a real election sporting some forward thinking candidates. Good grief.
Agreed. We should have let it go to Warrick County. Even the eastside location would have been about 15 million cheaper (Burkhardt Road TIF) than downtown and not had the same infrastructure issues. For some reason we always spend as much as possible. It makes no sense to me that we pour money into downtown while we do nothing to control zoning. There are very real and easy methods to push infill development. Other, more progressive cities, do it all the time. I get so tired of the left hand having no idea what the right is doing.
The truth is that if the school went to the Gateway area, there would be no measurable difference in its impact on the local economy. When students and parents who are footing the bill are looking for lodging at school, safety and convenience are usually major deciding factors, along with cost. Given my choice of paying the high rents in a secure apartment in a “moderate crime” area (downtown) and one in a safer area with shopping and entertainment for significantly less cost, I know which one I’d choose, even if it meant a “commute” to lecture classes. Most clinicals will be near Evansville’s “Medical Mile” aka the Gateway area.
The idea of turning Buckner and Kennedy Towers into dorms is probably the most ridiculous part of the bad plan for a downtown Medical School. The thirty or so physicians-to-be would not likely be dorm dwellers. The nursing students from UE may or may not opt for dorm life. USI’s nursing classes will remain on the west side campus, which has dorms. Ivy Tech’s nursing students don’t have dorms now. A good many of them still live with parents, or have kids of their own, and the others have managed to do fine without dorms. I know Winnie made the comment that he planned to “put them” (faculty and students) downtown. Is he planning to physically force free Americans to live where he wants them to? There is little to make them want to live downtown. Just because Carol wants to live downtown doesn’t mean everyone aspires to do that.
“Put them” Like we said they’d be “regulated” to that horrid infrastructure in the old Evansville downtown. Uck.
True
Gail, the uber liberal Democrat, knowing how Indy works, will squeeze the maximum from the Republican super majority legislature and the Republican governor, who when asked about Gail’s ideas, responded with “Who? Isn’t she an Illinois resident?”.
Straight BS.
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