Indiana Casino Near Loiusville Faces Hurdles

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – As reported by the Courier-Journal: "After pro-gambling forces won voter approval last week to allow a casino in Clark County, Ind., supporters envisioned busy blackjack
  tables and ringing slot machines.

"And their victory does remove a key hurdle in the effort to bring gambling to the community -- directly across the Ohio River from downtown Louisville.

"But Hoosier legislators have another message for Clark County: Your biggest challenges are yet to come.

"Key lawmakers say it would be difficult politically to win approval for a sixth casino on the Ohio River.

"Nor are legislators likely to sit idly by if the Indiana Gaming Commission were approached about the idea of relocating an existing casino to the Louisville area -- as some supporters have suggested.

"'I would fight to the bitter end,' said Rep. Bob Bischoff, a Lawrenceburg Democrat whose district includes three riverboats downriver from Cincinnati.

"Although the commission has the authority to approve a transfer, the political reality is that lawmakers and the communities that now share the revenue from the billion-dollar industry would do all they could to torpedo any relocation effort, Bischoff said.

"Indiana's 1993 casino-gambling law authorized five riverboats on Lake Michigan and five on the Ohio River. Voters were required to give their approval in a referendum before a boat could locate in a given county…."