Senate President Pro Tem David Long held his first meeting with the media of the 2009 Session today and labeled one topic off limits and put another in the unlikely category.

He said alcohol issues are off the table until 2010.  “All alcohol bills are doomed,” were the exact words as Long pointed to a 2-year study of Indiana alcohol laws.  In 2010, he said, the door is wide open to all kinds of possible changes in the way alcohol is sold in this state.

Then, with regard to gambling, Long said that there is weariness among lawmakers when it comes to new gambling proposals.  He labeled a plan to move 500 slot machines from Anderson to an OTB in Fort Wayne “new gambling.”   He called the proposal presumptuous and said it would amount to creating a new casino.