SPRINGFIELD:- With all of the pieces clearing their first legislative hurdle, legislators are now getting down to the serious business of putting together a sweeping gambling expansion. Fueled by lawmakers' need to solve a roughly $5 billion budget deficit, a group of new gambling bills that could provide about half of that have made it to the House floor.
The House Gaming Committee easily approved bills Friday that would legalize video poker at bars and restaurants throughout Illinois, put a casino in Chicago and another in its suburbs. A third proposal, which would add thousands of slots at riverboat casinos and horse-racing tracks, passed the committee last week.
Now lawmakers will try to reach a quick compromise on the politically charged issue, and that won't be easy. The legislative session is supposed to end no later than May 31, yet no deal is in sight. "We're running out of time to get all these people together and come up with an agreement," said Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville.
Gambling expansion has much more momentum this spring because many lawmakers consider it the only realistic option. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has taken general tax increases off the negotiating table, and he and lawmakers say they will not slash state programs and services.
Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who heads the gambling committee, proposed the expansion package to generate more than $2.5 billion for the state and provide an economic and tourism boost for cities and counties. He says lawmakers are more receptive to the polarizing issue this year because the state desperately needs the money and gambling expansion is the least painful option. Other legislators agree.
Religious groups who oppose gambling are battling the measures, saying they would lead to more addiction and crime for the sake of political and financial gain without proper public input. "This is totally wrong," said Anita Bedell, executive director of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems. "It's a sweetheart deal for the gambling people, and it makes losers out of the ... taxpayers in Illinois."
Republicans on the committee have refused to support the proposals, and some Democrats said they only voted for the ideas to keep negotiations going. Senate Democrats plan to propose their own version next week that will include much of Lang's proposal. But it does not authorize video poker or a Chicago casino, instead putting that license in the city's northern suburbs. It also would be a single bill — meaning lawmakers would have to cast one all-or-nothing vote — instead of three bills.
Legislators also must sort out the various competing interests. Riverboat casinos and horse tracks don't want one getting too many slots that could steal business from the other. They dislike video poker because of the competition. Lawmakers with boats in their districts don't want new casinos to hurt their business, and many are squeamish about letting Chicago run its own casino.
Some lawmakers say the issue ultimately will rest with Blagojevich, who has softened his stance opposing expansion and now says he will look at anything the Legislature sends him. Lawmakers will be skittish about voting for gambling expansion without some assurance that Blagojevich won't veto it and make them look bad.
http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/managearticle.asp?c=280&a=6979
The House Gaming Committee easily approved bills Friday that would legalize video poker at bars and restaurants throughout Illinois, put a casino in Chicago and another in its suburbs. A third proposal, which would add thousands of slots at riverboat casinos and horse-racing tracks, passed the committee last week.
Now lawmakers will try to reach a quick compromise on the politically charged issue, and that won't be easy. The legislative session is supposed to end no later than May 31, yet no deal is in sight. "We're running out of time to get all these people together and come up with an agreement," said Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville.
Gambling expansion has much more momentum this spring because many lawmakers consider it the only realistic option. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has taken general tax increases off the negotiating table, and he and lawmakers say they will not slash state programs and services.
Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who heads the gambling committee, proposed the expansion package to generate more than $2.5 billion for the state and provide an economic and tourism boost for cities and counties. He says lawmakers are more receptive to the polarizing issue this year because the state desperately needs the money and gambling expansion is the least painful option. Other legislators agree.
Religious groups who oppose gambling are battling the measures, saying they would lead to more addiction and crime for the sake of political and financial gain without proper public input. "This is totally wrong," said Anita Bedell, executive director of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems. "It's a sweetheart deal for the gambling people, and it makes losers out of the ... taxpayers in Illinois."
Republicans on the committee have refused to support the proposals, and some Democrats said they only voted for the ideas to keep negotiations going. Senate Democrats plan to propose their own version next week that will include much of Lang's proposal. But it does not authorize video poker or a Chicago casino, instead putting that license in the city's northern suburbs. It also would be a single bill — meaning lawmakers would have to cast one all-or-nothing vote — instead of three bills.
Legislators also must sort out the various competing interests. Riverboat casinos and horse tracks don't want one getting too many slots that could steal business from the other. They dislike video poker because of the competition. Lawmakers with boats in their districts don't want new casinos to hurt their business, and many are squeamish about letting Chicago run its own casino.
Some lawmakers say the issue ultimately will rest with Blagojevich, who has softened his stance opposing expansion and now says he will look at anything the Legislature sends him. Lawmakers will be skittish about voting for gambling expansion without some assurance that Blagojevich won't veto it and make them look bad.
http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/managearticle.asp?c=280&a=6979
