The likely gatekeeper for bills to help Indiana's casinos has not said what he will do with those bills, but he's indicating sympathy with two of the most prominent proposals.
House Public Policy Chairman Tom Dermody, R-LaPorte, notes the fate of any casino bill will hinge on whether it expands gambling, since Governor Pence, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, have all vowed to oppose any measure that does.
They're not alone. Dermody jokes his parents' friends keep accosting him to ask why his committee is so preoccupied with gambling and alcohol.
But the definition of "expansion" is murky. Pence has declined to spell out publicly where he draws the line. At a conference this month, Dermody sided with casino owners' arguments that two proposals at the heart of the debate aren't expansions.
Racetrack casinos in Anderson and Shelby County have pressed to replace computerized versions of table games like blackjack and craps with live dealers. Gary's Majestic Star Casinos also want legislators to let them move their Lake Michigan properties inland.
Dermody chaired a summer study committee which endorsed both those steps. Majestic Star has dialed back its longstanding plea for a downtown Gary location. It's now seeking to reorient its harborfront property to move the casino off the lake onto land.
Dermody says the state needs to consider reasonable steps to help Indiana casinos compete with competitors across the state line in Ohio and Michigan.
"Everybody, even those who have come to me and said I don't want gaming expansion, still want local dollars coming back to them and fulfilling school funding and so forth, so everybody is going to have to look at themselves in the mirror and say, what's right for Indiana?" Dermody says.
Both proposals have failed before in the legislature, but the landscape could be different in 2015, because of the study committee recommendations, declining casino revenue, and Dermody's first full term as chairman. Dermody replaced Portland Republican and staunch gambling opponent Bill Davis as chairman in 2014, but kept a low profile in his first year while familiarizing himself with the issues.