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INDIANAPOLIS - State Sen. Robert Meeks thinks that if the state sponsors gambling, it should be legal for everyone.
That's why he sponsored a bill in the General Assembly that would legalize electronic gambling machines for bars or private clubs.
"The state of Indiana is in the gaming business," Meeks said Friday. "It makes it inconsistent when the state can but the individual can't."
Meeks' bill would limit the number of machines any one business or club could own. It also would charge a tax of $1,000 on each machine, plus tax the revenues made on each machine. Dealers who provide the machines would pay a $5,000 licensing fee.
The bill also proposes splitting the tax revenue between the local community and the state, with the local area receiving 60 percent of tax revenues, and the state getting 40 percent.
The most recent estimates say there are 100,000 machines in Indiana, he said.
Meeks said he sponsored the bill because the laws against electronic gambling machines are difficult to enforce.
"Prosecutors don't have the manpower or the resources to gather the evidence against these things," he said.
One of those prosecutors, Kosciusko County's David Kolbe, waged a countywide war against the illegal gambling machines several years ago.
"As a public prosecutor, if the legislature decides to legalize them, then our job becomes easier," Kolbe said Friday.
"Personally, I would still be opposed. I believe the presence of gambling devices is a negative in the community."
Meeks said his bill has gone to committee, and he gives it a very small chance of passing.
"I doubt if it'll even get a hearing," he said.
