Illinois legislators are likely to present the state Legislature with a bill, which calls for the launch of a Chicago-owned casino as well as “satellite” casinos across the state, during this summer legislative session.
Proponents of the proposal believe that now is the right time for it to be passed into law, considering the difficulties Chicago is facing with its public pension system and the multi-billion budget deficit the state is trying to cope with.
Sen. Terry Link, one of the bill’s sponsors, planned to introduce it to the Senate early on Thursday. Later in the day, Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton, announced that the lawmaker decided it was not ready. Ms. Phelon also pointed out that discussions over the proposal are continuing but no hearings are likely to take place before then end of the spring legislative session, which is set to adjourn on May 31.
Senate Bill 1382 will probably be pushed into the summer session mainly due to the fact that Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner would like to pass proposals of a higher priority first. Yet, he is among the proponents of gambling expansion on the territory of the state.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been lobbying for a casino in the city, as he believes this would help it solve the issues related to its public pension system.
If passed into law, SB 1382 would allow Chicago to open a fully-fledged casino and to keep all the revenue generated from it for the first seven years of its operation. Furthermore, smaller “satellite” venues might be added in other parts of the state. Those are to feature between 400 and 600 slot machines.
According to supporters of the bill, a potential expansion of the state gambling industry would result in more than $500 million being contributed to Chicago and Illinois as a whole. However, casino officials argued that the figures have been a bit inflated and that new gambling venues would have a negative impact on the existing ones.
Sen. Dave Syverson, yet another sponsor of the bill, commented that he believes it is likely to pass before the end of the summer legislative session, especially if it is part of a bigger package. He also pointed out that the state Senate is well-aware of the fact that Illinois is losing money to casinos located in neighboring states.
Illinois legislators have been pushing for gambling expansion for quite some time now. Former Gov. Pat Quinn had previously rejected two casino bills. Those had failed to be passed into laws mainly because of the fact that lawmakers had expanded gambling options too much.
