Casino support fades among public, Tribune/WGN-TV poll finds
Nearly half of Chicago residents oppose gambling expansion proposal, according to survey
As Mayor Rahm Emanuel pursues efforts to win a cash-generating casino for Chicago, public support for a major gambling expansion in Illinois has faded, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.
The survey results show growing opposition to new casinos and video slots at horse racing tracks, contrasting sharply with a similar poll conducted in February. The latest poll findings also appear to show that voters back Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to veto the legislature's latest gambling expansion bill in August.
Lawmakers have twice approved measures to allow five new gambling palaces for Chicago, Rockford, Danville, the south suburbs and Park City in Lake County, but Quinn has raised many concerns to block the measures.
The poll found 47 percent oppose the gambling expansion plan, while 43 percent approve of it. Those numbers are turned around from February, when a survey showed 50 percent of voters statewide approved of the gambling expansion plan while 42 percent disapproved.
In the new survey, almost half of Chicago residents, 49 percent, opposed the gambling expansion proposal, while 40 percent supported it.
Suburban opposition also was in evidence: More than 50 percent of suburban Cook County and collar county residents opposed the casino plan, while 38 percent in suburban Cook and 43 percent in the collar counties supported it.
Only among Downstate voters did the proposal receive more support than opposition. In the 96 counties outside the Chicago metropolitan area, 47 percent of voters said they backed gambling expansion while 42 percent opposed. Supporters had said that by bringing video slot machines to horse racing tracks, it would help Downstate agriculture and the horse racing industry.
The poll found a continued gender gap on the issue of more gambling for the state. Fifty-one percent of men and 36 percent of women said they backed gambling expansion.
The poll of 700 Illinois registered voters was taken Oct. 4-8 and has an error margin of 3.7 percentage points.
Emanuel has said he would work "relentlessly" to pass legislation that would allow a Chicago casino to be built and "implemented responsibly." The mayor at one point last year had pledged money would be earmarked to help pave roads, construct schools and rehab mass transit.
Support among city voters for the statewide gambling expansion was greater in February, when 54 percent supported and about 40 percent opposed. A similar survey of Chicago residents in December 2010 found 47 percent of Chicago voters backed a city-owned casino, while 41 percent opposed it.
The new survey results came as video gambling at bars, truck stops and fraternal organizations officially started this month, more than three years after it was first authorized by state lawmakers.
Like Emanuel and his search for new city revenues, supporters of expanded gambling in Springfield have contended that new licensing fees and taxes could generate $200 million in annual tax revenues and almost $1 billion in licensing fees for Illinois' cash-starved state government. It also could create about 10,000 direct jobs, according to a study conducted for the pro-gambling Illinois Revenue and Jobs Alliance. The advocacy group includes organized labor and groups associated with cities seeking the new casinos.
Quinn, however, has repeatedly shown his distaste for the plan — at times chastising the legalization of video slots at horse race tracks as too much gambling. At other times, including his veto this year, the governor has contended the legislation does not provide enough oversight of casino and other gambling interests and fails to set aside a proper amount of funds for schools.
Gambling expansion supporters have said they would seek to override Quinn's veto during the post-election session. In a year when all 177 seats in the General Assembly are up for election, backers have said they hope to pick up votes when the campaign pressure is off and any politicians who lost the election might join in an override attempt.
But to overturn Quinn, it would take the votes of 71 House members and 36 Senate members. In May, the bill got the bare minimum 30 Senate votes needed for passage. In the House, it got 69 votes, just two short of a veto-proof majority. Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, of Chicago, however, has predicted an override would be unsuccessful.
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