Casinos will be impacted by shut down

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - If lawmakers don't pass the new state budget by midnight, some government functions will stop.

With no budget, Governor Daniels is making preparations for a government shut down. State lawmakers have been meeting in a special session for weeks trying to come up with a budget compromise.

On Friday, the Governor announced he has the authority to keep prisons operating and state police on the roads, if lawmakers don't agree on a state budget by the end of the special session.

However, he says most other government functions will stop, including the BMV, State Parks and casinos.

Mike Smith is the President and CEO of the Casino Association of Indiana. He says shutting down the state's casinos would devastate more than the casinos. “Big trickle down effect, all of the vendors that provides services and products to our casinos, we're a multi-billion dollar a year industry. We buy a lot of food. We buy a lot of everything. So when you start moving it down the food chain, the economic impact would be substantial,” said Smith.

Smith says the Casino Association is looking at options available if they are shut down. One of those options includes going to court to make their case.

Smith says gaming agents are an essential part of the operation of government. The shutdown would also impact the nearly 16,000 Hoosiers who work at Indiana casinos.