Gov. Mitch Daniels had two words Friday for Indiana casinos seeking tax breaks to ward off new competitors in Ohio: Forget it.

After Tuesday’s approval of an Ohio referendum to create land-based casinos in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo, Indiana’s gambling operators amplified their calls for reforms that would allow them to make more money.

At the top of their list are tax breaks or incentives for new development or the expansion of an existing casino.

Daniels ruled both out.

“If they’re asking for tax relief, if they’re asking for cash — no,” Daniels said. “If we start bailing out industries in this state, we’re not going to start with a very profitable one like that.”

Mike Smith, president of the Casino Association of Indiana, argued that changes putting the gambling industry in a better position to compete are not bailouts, but good business.

“This is giving the industry tools that a lot of businesses already get in the event that they are needed to face off competition. So, I wouldn’t look at that necessarily as a bailout,” Smith said. “I also understand his concern with the immediacy of the freefall in state revenue.”

Daniels, however, did remain open to some reforms casinos have sought to help them maximize profits. One is the elimination of a requirement that casinos have maritime crews and boat engines, which can cost up to $2 million per year.

“(Eliminating) the business of the engine that never runs and the captain that never drives the boat, that’s fine with me,” Daniels said. “I always thought that was a strange fiction anyway.”

The governor also said he would not rule out allowing the state’s riverboat casinos to expand into land-based operations, as long as no new gambling licenses are added.

Casinos have argued that reforms that help only their industry also would help the state, which reels in $900 million in tax revenue from gambling.

But Daniels said Friday he’s “not very worried” about the possibility that the state could lose some of its casino revenue.

“Casino revenues are maybe 5 percent of the state budget. So, if you lost a piece of 5 percent, you would feel it,” he said. “But, you know, there are worse things than being a little less dependent on gaming.”

House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, advocated a “cautious” approach.

“I don’t think we should cut taxes immediately, no,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the solution yet, but I wouldn’t rule anything out, because we don’t want to lose that industry.”

Bauer said that if any changes are made in the next legislative session, they would be comprehensive, industrywide adjustments aimed at stabilizing gambling for the long term.

“I don’t think it’s a quick answer or a quick fix,” he said. “I don’t know how you can compete at this point, but the good news is they won’t have those Ohio casinos open for two years.”

Smith said reforms would be “no different than a competitiveness tool kit that would help us compete with other states.”

Daniels, however, said he’s tired of the casino lobby pressing for more money every year.

“Those folks are here every year, searching for a way to get more money,” he said. “The rationale changes, but what doesn’t is their insistence on more. But it just isn’t a good time.”