Committee approves one-year delay and technical fix to correct wagering-tax payments to Gary

The Appropriations Committee on an edge-of-session vote advanced House Bill 1448 on a bipartisan 13-0 vote after approving an amendment, 11-1, that delays the bill’s payoff schedule by one year and makes technical changes to how the comptroller will implement the statute.

The bill was offered by Representative Hal Slager to correct what testimony described as an administrative error in the 2019 gaming law (House Enrolled Act 1015) that led to supplemental wagering-tax distributions continuing to be made to the City of Gary instead of to other designated cities. Jennifer Thuma, general counsel for the state comptroller’s office, told the committee that the comptroller’s office “was unaware of the change in the statute and continued making the wagering tax distributions as they always did.”

Why it matters: The statute enacted in 2019 created limited-time supplemental distributions that depended on multiple conditions. The comptroller’s office says it will withhold Gary’s 2025 wagering-tax receipts to comply with the statute once the total amount owed is known; officials estimated…