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Indiana legislative leaders rule out any gaming bills in 2024 session

Indiana lawmakers won’t consider any gaming bills in the 2024 session.

That’s because a former state legislator recently agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges stemming from the last major gaming bill in 2019.

Former Rep. Sean Eberhart (R-Shelbyville) is admitting to taking a bribe — the promise of a six-figure job with Spectacle Gaming — in exchange for his support of the 2019 bill that benefitted Spectacle.

Both House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers) and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) agreed the fallout from that will rule out any gaming legislation in the upcoming session.

READ MORE: Ex-state lawmaker to plead guilty to federal corruption charges

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And Bray said it makes it more difficult to consider gaming bills beyond 2024.

“It taints the Statehouse,” Bray said. “It diminishes the confidence that people have in the integrity of the Statehouse. It causes an awful lot of problems and it makes it particularly difficult to engage in that kind of policy.”

The gaming industry had been trying to get lawmakers to legalize online casino gambling in recent years.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Copyright 2023 IPB News. To see more, visit .

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.