INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A bill that would have allowed one of two Gary riverboat casino licenses to be transferred to northeastern Indiana fizzled in a Senate committee Thursday and is likely dead this session.

Don Barden wants to consolidate the two Gary Majestic Star casinos he owns on Lake Michigan into a single, larger operation and use one of the state gaming licenses to open a new casino in northeastern Indiana.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, filed a bill that would have allowed one of the licenses to be transferred to Steuben County in the far northeastern corner of Indiana. Part of Meeks' district includes the county, which borders Michigan and Ohio.

Meeks' committee took testimony on the bill Thursday and then amended it so it would only let people in Steuben County and those in the city of Fort Wayne in Allen County vote on whether a casino should be allowed in their areas. The committee approved the amendment, but the modified bill then died when nobody would offer a second motion needed to vote on it.

Barden said a single, expanded casino would do better and provide at least as much revenue for Gary as the two smaller casinos docked close to each other on Lake Michigan.

He told the committee that he would invest at least $150 million in a single, expanded casino in Gary, and had promised local officials that the city would get at least the same amount of development money and other revenue from one bigger riverboat than the two smaller ones.

He also said that a casino in Steuben County would draw a lot of business from Michigan and Ohio.

Both Meeks and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, had said they wanted Gary Mayor Rudy Clay and other city officials to reach accord with Barden before legislative action would be taken on a possible transfer. Barden and city officials have held negotiations on the issue, but no agreement has been reached.

Some senators said they were concerned that transferring a casino to northeastern Indiana could hurt business at planned casinos at pari-mutuel horse racing tracks by drawing patrons away.

And Mayor Clay said losing one of the riverboats would cost the city much-needed jobs.