Indiana gambling opponents hire lobbyist

Walter Schulz of New Albany said the casino industry's push to eliminate a state requirement that riverboats cruise prompted the Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling to step up its lobbying efforts.

Schulz, who has done some volunteer lobbying in the past, said the group also opposes Gov. Frank O'Bannon's proposal to use gambling revenues for new education programs.

The coalition has said it hopes to raise about $30,000 for lobbying.

The Casino Association of Indiana has its own lobbyist in John Barnett Jr., and each of the riverboat companies have lobbyists as well.

"It's not unheard of for groups such as theirs to hire lobbyists," Barnett said of the coalition. "There are certain legislators we know who are more favorable to their position than ours. We'll have to see what happens in the 2001 session."

Schulz, an unsuccessful Republican legislative candidate this year, is among plaintiffs who unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the state's riverboat gambling law. The Indiana Court of Appeals on July 14 upheld a lower court ruling that the plaintiffs had not shown they were sufficiently harmed by the law to sue the state.

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