Illinois: When you're too dumb to stop.....

Another Poster Child for all that is wrong with Predatory Gambling and short-sighted politicians too blinded to create sensible fiscal policies.....

How much more discretionary income can politicians suck from the poor?

Chicago casino plan draws more support at hearing

SOPHIA TAREE, Associated Press

By SOPHIA TAREEN, Associated Press

Updated 3:14 pm, Wednesday, April 16, 2014

 

CHICAGO (AP) — A proposal for a state-owned Chicago casino won praise Wednesday from business groups and a warmer reception from a state regulatory board than past attempts to expand gambling, but the plan also drew criticism from downstate officials and the horse racing industry who said it would cheat them out of needed revenues and jobs.

 

The hearing in Chicago, which wasn't heated like public exchanges in other parts of Illinois, was the latest attempt to bolster gambling, but questions were also raised about support for the legislation in an election year where other major fiscal issues are pending. Previous bills approved by legislators were twice rejected by Gov. Pat Quinn largely over ethical concerns about corruption, and last year's bill calling for five casinos fizzled out after the Illinois Gaming Board scrutinized plans that would have allowed Chicago to have authority over a casino.

 

State Rep. Bob Rita, a Blue Island Democrat sponsoring the plans, said he wanted to gauge interest in a Chicago-only plan and give lawmakers options. Two proposals are on the table: One adds five casinos, including in Chicago, plus slots at racetracks. The other calls for a mega-casino in Chicago. In both plans, the Chicago casino would be state run, which Rita said was in response to past criticism.

 

Though neither Quinn nor Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have weighed in recently, the board that regulates Illinois' 10 existing casinos highlighted the changes.

 

"There are certainly improvements," gaming board attorney Caleb Melamed told lawmakers. "This is a significantly different piece of legislation than previous years."

 

He voiced other concerns about the potential of saturating the market with other Chicago area casinos. He also questioned a state-run casino, a model that's unusual among other states. The

 

Chicago Crime Commission objected to the structure, calling for an operator-owned model like other casinos and more protections against corruption. Chicago area pastors and anti-gambling groups also warned lawmakers of possible social costs on either plan, such as more people hooked on gambling.

 

"Casino gambling is really nothing more than an increased tax on those who can't afford it," said Matt Fitzgerald, senior pastor at St. Pauls United Church of Christ in Chicago.

 

Noticeably absent from Wednesday's hearing were Chicago city officials, even while chamber of commerce groups said a downtown Chicago casino — in either plan — would create jobs and benefit the economy with estimated revenues between $450 million to $950 million. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and urban planners envisioned a Chicago casino as a draw for tourists and locals, with shopping and live shows. They said possible locations included the Congress Plaza Hotel, the top floors of a downtown Macy's department store or the James R. Thompson Center, which a state building.

 

"Chicago is an incredible prize for the gaming industry," said Kim Goluska, president of Chicago Consultants Studio Inc. "The revenues are going to be huge no matter what they are."

 

Still, Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said the mayor wouldn't address expanded gambling until the city solved its pension problem. State lawmakers have approved a partial fix to Chicago's pension problem, but Quinn hasn't indicated if he'll sign it. Quinn's spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said the Chicago Democrat hadn't seen the two gambling expansion plans.

 

Rita said he hadn't spoken to either Quinn or Emanuel about the proposals, but wanted to call his legislation for a vote before the end of May. He's said that the political climate in Springfield could be more favorable than last year when lawmakers were considering plans to address the pension system, which is the worst-funded in the nation. Quinn has since signed a pension law. Lawmakers are also looking for additional revenue sources in this election year as the temporary income tax increase rolls back next year and creates the potential for major budget cuts.

 

One of his current plans calls for a Chicago casino with up to 10,000 terminals that'll share revenues;

 

Half would go to Chicago and the other half statewide for education and capital construction spending. The other plan would call for a 4,000 to 6,000-spot Chicago casino and smaller, 1,200-position ones in a suburb south of Chicago and the counties of Lake, Winnebago and Vermilion. It would also allow for slot machines at most horse racetracks. The second plan would also allow for revenue sharing.

 

The idea to separate out the Chicago casino has already drawn opposition from the Illinois' horse racing industry and mayors elsewhere, particularly in economically-depressed areas. They've argued for job creation with the five-casino proposal. The Illinois Casino Gaming Association, which represents most of the state's casinos, said it opposed both plans citing revenue drops over the years and market saturation.

___

The bill is SB1739.

 

 

 

 

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Gambling-plans-to-be-heard-at-Wednesday-hearing-5405854.php

 

 

Illinois: The Cost of Corruption

Ill. lawmakers prepare to roll dice on Chicago casino amid corruption, oversight concerns

CHICAGO — Visitors to the nation’s third-largest city are usually spotted wandering the Magnificent Mile, snapping pictures of the Willis Tower and sampling Chicago-style deep dish pizza, but if some persistent Illinois lawmakers and Mayor Rahm Emanuel get their way, a glitzy casino would be on their agenda, too.

Trying to land a Chicago casino has become an annual sticking point, despite political gusto from mayors and legislators who want to expand gambling in Illinois. Gov. Pat Quinn has axed two gambling bills and invoked images of infiltrating “mobsters.” Along that same theme, the head of the Illinois Gaming Board said the pending plan is inherently problematic because of the way a Chicago casino will be managed.


Still, the latest bill — which recently cleared the Illinois Senate and also would allow slot machines located in lounges at O’Hare and Midway — appears to have the best chance yet.

For the first time, Quinn signaled his support for gaming in a major speech, saying this year that he’d be open to a gaming bill if the revenue benefits schools, a stance that comes as Illinois faces mountainous money problems.

Meanwhile, Emanuel is pushing hard for the proposal, lawmakers are eager to rework it and business leaders would love the chance to plant a casino in Chicago — the largest American city to date — with thousands of noisy slots, an entertainment venue and a continuous flow of money-spending tourists.

“It’s not just another riverboat casino, it has the potential to be a destination in its own right,” said Jack Johnson, head of the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau. “Anytime you can add another destination to Chicago, it’s one more reason to come.”

The bill calls for five new Illinois casinos, including one in Chicago, and airport slots. If airports want them, Chicago would be unique among U.S. airports outside Las Vegas. The plan would establish a Chicago Casino Development Authority, a board of mayoral appointees. The Illinois Gaming Board would have regulatory oversight, but most everything else, including contracts and day-to-day operations, falls to the city board.

And there’s the potential rub.

Some experts raised concerns at the Chicago setup when compared with urban casinos — in Philadelphia, Detroit and New Orleans — where the state board oversees everything.

“That is a rare situation,” said Doug Walker, an economics professor at the College of Charleston.

“Anytime you have a new group of regulators, there’s another potential area for corruption.”

That very issue prompted state gaming board head Aaron Jaffe to question why Chicago needed its own board and resulted in a spat with lawmakers during a hearing on the bill last month. That followed similar questions from Quinn, who vetoed gambling bills over lack of ethical standards. It’s a theme he often brings up in a state where four of the last seven governors have gone to prison, including his predecessor Rod Blagojevich.

Even opponents who typically raise concerns about potential social costs — including increases in problem gambling — are also talking about ethical concerns. Partly that’s because it’s not hard to find corruption headlines in a city that’s been under a court order to root out political patronage or where federal data shows more than 1,500 public corruption convictions since the mid-1970s.


“They’ve had scandals ... all kinds of scandals,” said Anita Bedell, head of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems. “You think it’s going to be different now?”

Lawmakers acknowledged some of those concerns in the proposal, adding a ban on political contributions from the industry, an inspector general and, most recently, stating explicitly that the state board has final say over all regulation.

But the Chicago board remains in place.

“They’re like the business manager,” explained Democratic Sen. Terry Link, a bill sponsor. He says it’s not unlike other Chicago entities. The state created the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns McCormick Place, a convention center. Both the mayor and governor appoint members.

Emanuel, who said he supports Quinn’s ethical oversight concerns, also defended a city board, saying it’s needed to protect Chicago taxpayers’ interests.

The mayor boosted his support for the casino this week by pledging 100 percent of revenue will go to schools. The move comes as he proceeds with a controversial plan to close 54 schools and follows last year’s teachers strike.

Quinn has said he’d support gambling after lawmakers address the state’s nearly $100 billion unfunded pension liability, the worst nationwide. The plan is expected to bring in roughly $1.2 billion in one-time revenue and about $270 million annually. But Quinn has been noncommittal on whether he’d sign the bill if House lawmakers approve it. He’s also reticent on specifics, like what he thinks of the Chicago board.

Meanwhile, urban planners and tourism officials hope a Chicago casino boosts business. No specifics on a location have been publicly discussed, but some potential sites have been mentioned.

Urban planner Kim Goluska, who for nearly two decades did casino research for former Mayor Richard Daley, said possible sites include the glass-paneled James R. Thompson Center downtown, a state building with an enormous atrium; the Congress Plaza Hotel on Michigan Avenue; and Chicago’s former main post office, a dingy building straddling a freeway.

Others include a former hospital site on the South Side and McCormick.

Johnson said that any site could work, depending on transportation. He pointed to the success of Wrigley Field and the Steppenwolf Theatre as tourists destinations, which aren’t downtown.

Goluska said any casino should be incorporated into the city’s urban core to buttress other businesses. His top pick would be the Thompson Center, which is walking distance to Chicago’s Theater District, shopping and hotels.

“The spinoff benefit of doing this right should make the gaming revenue pale by comparison,” said Goluska, president of Chicago Consultants Studio, Inc. “It’s important that this is done right.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ill-lawmakers-prepare-to-roll-dice-on-chicago-casino-amid-corruption-oversight-concerns/2013/05/03/7d4c35e0-b419-11e2-9fb1-62de9581c946_story_1.html

Illinois Senate Delays Vote To Expand Casino Gaming

When Predatory Gambling failed to pave the streets the streets with gold, bring prosperity and economic development, the solution in Illinois is 'expansion' just as it will be in Massachusetts.

Illinois Senate Delays Vote To Expand Casino Gaming

Thursday, March 7, 2013
By Dan Howell

The Illinois Senate is delaying a vote on another attempt to expand casino gambling.

Officials expected a vote as early as Thursday, but after a closed-door meeting Democrats put it off.

 

A spokesperson for the Senate President said supporters will continue discussions in efforts to get it passed.

 

A committee approved a plan yesterday to add five new casinos and put the tax revenue toward education.

 

http://www.kwqc.com/story/21549365/illinois-senate-delays-vote-to-expand-casino-gaming


Senate committee OKs gambling expansion, 5 new casinos
By Doug Finke

The State Journal-Register

Posted Mar 06, 2013

 

A new gambling expansion plan that calls for five new casinos and slot machines at Chicago airports won approval Thursday in the Illinois Senate Executive Committee.

 

By a 10-4 vote, the committee endorsed the latest expansion plan just days after Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed an expansion bill he called excessive and lacking in ethical standards.

The bill authorizes slot machines at horse racing tracks, but not at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

However the bill does stipulate the fairgrounds will get $5 million annually from gambling proceeds to help pay for maintenance.

New casinos would be located in Chicago, Rockford, Danville, Lake County and the south Chicago suburbs. The bill also authorizes iGaming, electronic gambling on the internet. The state already sells lottery tickets on the internet.

Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, said Senate Bill 1739 reduces the number of gaming positions authorized in previous expansion bills. He also said the bill bans political contributions from gaming licensees, something Quinn said was essential to win his support for gaming expansion.

Additional gaming revenues would be split between education and pensions. About $317 million that could be collected from initial expansion fees would be dedicated to paying down old bills.

Some committee members complained the bill was being rushed through.

 

“I don’t understand why we are in this big of a hurry to do this,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, who has supported expansion in the past.

Tom Swoik of the Illinois Casino Gambling Association said existing casinos have seen revenues fall significantly in the last five years and adding so many gaming positions would aggravate the problem.

 

“We’re not against expansion. We’d like to see responsible expansion,” Swoik said. “The saturation point is getting very, very near.”

 

 

http://www.sj-r.com/carousel/x1037520484/Senate-committee-OKs-new-gambling-expansion-plan

2,000 horses in Illinois support 37,000 JOBS or 1,800 JOBS per Horse!

2,000 horses in Illinois support 37,000 JOBS or 1,800 JOBS per Horse! WOW!
No wonder they need taxpayer subsidies for a DEAD Industry!

Horsemen banking on slot machines to stayafloat
Tom Collins Staff Writer

Feel like feeding the slot machines the next time you go to the horse track?

Lawmakers voted to make that an option, but Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed it. Lawmakers might not have the votes to override him when they convene next week.

And local horse breeders their future hinges on getting the slot into the tracks.

Area breeders say the rise of riverboats and land-based casinos in Illinois have cut into their earnings at a time when expenses have risen sharply. Without revenue from slots, they’ll have to consider tough options, including moving to states that do allow it.

“It’s getting to the point where we’re looking for help to save the industry,” said Randy Tuftie of rural Utica, who has 40 years in the horse business. “All our operating expenses have increased and the purse money that we race for has declined.

“I was raised here in La Salle County, lived here all my life, so I don’t want to go anywhere.”

Leon Walker of rural Ottawa, a 25-year horse veteran, said the Illinois horse industry is at a critical point.

“We definitely need relief,” he said. And without that relief, “The industry here in Illinois is going to die.”

They and others now are watching Senate Bill 1849. A key provision would allow slot machines at horse tracks, allowed in at least five rival states including Indiana.

The bill was filed Feb. 9, 2011, by Sen. Terry Link (D-Lincolnshire) and passed the Senate the following April. SB 1849 was later amended to expand gaming and then passed the House 69-47 in May; state Rep. Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley) and state Rep. Pam Roth (R-Morris) both voted yes. The Senate concurred 30-26 a week later, but state Sen. Rezin (R-Morris) opposed it.

Rezin said she’s reluctant to support gaming expansion.

“I have not supported the gaming bill in the past,” she said. While noting the sprawling bill includes many “good elements” including soil and water conservation, “At the end of the day, overall expansion is not something that I support.”

Quinn felt so, too. He vetoed it on Aug. 28, saying the bill fell short of ethical standards needed for expanded gambling — the bill does not, for example, ban campaign contributions from gaming operators — and did not set aside enough revenue for education.

“The most glaring deficiency of SB 1849 is the absence of strict ethical standards and comprehensive regulatory oversight,” he said. “Illinois should never settle for a gaming bill that includes loopholes for mobsters.”

Mautino said he supports an override — he traditionally supports the horse industry — but isn’t sure there are sufficient votes for the bill to even be called in the upcoming veto session. Bill sponsor Link, he said, “would not call a bill and watch it fail.”

“One of the big problems we’re having is there are only about 2,000 horses that are Illinois-bred and running,” he said. “The purses and racing structure in Indiana and other states are already drawing races away from us. This legislation is a way to get purses to a competitive level and keep quality racing here, and they feel this is the best way to rebuild horse racing here.”

Mautino noted the bill also includes ancillary provisions pertaining to land use in downstate Illinois, and he’d hate to see those measures thrown out if Quinn’s total veto isn’t addressed.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture estimates the horse industry in Illinois supports approximately 37,000 agribusiness jobs here.

If there are only ~ 2,000 horses in Illinois, but 37,000 people supporting them, that means each horses supports more than 1,800 JOBS ! Wow!

Many of those jobs have migrated to eastern states where expanded gaming has already been enacted.

Joe Cassano, who races nine horses at tracks in suburban Maywood and Crete, said he and his colleagues have pressed for legislation in the past and walked away empty-handed. They’ve watched in dismay as the top drivers and trainers have fled for New York and New Jersey in search of a living wage. The loss of top talent has resulted in diminished quality of racing.

“We still have a few good drivers, as well as young up-and-comers, but the quality of racing has lessened because so many experienced drivers and trainers have gone east for more money,” he said. “It’s not like we want the slots to get ahead. We just want the slots to stay even with everybody else.”

Besides, it's in the Gambling Playbook!

While purses are not at an all-time low, he said, the revenues are not sufficient to cover mounting costs such as veterinary care and still pay the bills at home.

“We’re in a business that, if we don’t get help from the Legislature, we’re not going to be able to continue in Illinois — it’s that critical,” he said. “We just can’t compete, anymore.”


Tom Collins can be reached at (815) 220-6930 or courtreporter@newstrib.com. NewsTribune reporter Jeff Dankert contributed to this report.

http://newstrib.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=27&ArticleID=24368

Gambling contributes to poverty

Con: Gambling contributes to poverty, addiction

Published: October 20, 2012

 

By GEORGE UHL --

Proponents of video gambling choose to call it "video gaming." It is not a harmless video game. It is gambling that causes poverty and addiction. And video gambling is hardly the financial panacea marketed by the gambling industry.

The industry promises Belleville the annual sum of $300,000. To meet this promise, the citizens of Belleville must lose $6 million to these machines each year.

Losses will come from the paychecks and credit cards of Belleville residents. By law, the gambling machine distributor would receive 35 percent ($2.1 million), the bar owner 35 percent ($2.1 million), the state 25 percent ($1.5 million) and the city 5 percent ($300,000). Belleville's share would first go into the state's coffers.

Given the state's miserable history disbursing tax revenue, who knows how long the city would be waiting in line along with school districts, nursing homes and many other creditors of the state to get paid. For example, the state is in arrears to the local school districts to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in overdue obligations.

Even assuming all goes as planned, in a 10-year time period $60 million would be siphoned from the gambling machine losers in our city. A good deal? Not so much.

Not mentioned is the responsibility for Belleville to provide the enforcement of the gambling laws, including any need for increased police. The state is not required to do anything other than collect its $1.5 million and Belleville's share each year of the gambling losses.

Video gambling is known as the "crack cocaine" of gambling. According to a leading Las Vegas expert on compulsive gambling, video gambling is the most addictive. Do not be deceived by the gambling industry's argument that "We already have the Illinois State Lottery available at most gas marts." There is a huge difference between the lottery and video gambling. As we all know, lottery ticket buyers decide on their personal loss tolerance, usually a low amount compared to weekly income. Most lottery results are posted later --not instantly. On the other hand, video gambling machines are rigged to keep, on average, 20 cents of each dollar gambled over the course of time. Video gamblers are lured into thinking that with each small win or draw, the big payout will eventually occur. It rarely does.

By law, the video gambling machines can only be placed in locations serving liquor (with an exception for truck stops). Ever wonder why drinks are often complementary at casinos? Drinking inhibits a person's ability to think rationally while driving or gambling, including the risk of losing a paycheck.

Before the Alton Belle Casino opened in downtown Alton 1991, the Alton area had two Gamblers Anonymous therapy groups. Within a couple of years, the same Alton area had 14 Gamblers Anonymous groups. Belleville already has at least two Gamblers Anonymous groups primarily due to the Casino Queen, which is 10 miles away. Bringing video gambling into Belleville's 75 bars and restaurants is akin to importing 75 mini casinos. Many bars in Belleville are within an easy walk or a short drive of thousands of homes. Think about the consequences -- a $6 million annual drain on family incomes, devastating credit card debt, gambling addictions, poverty, rising rates of suicide, falling property values and an additional cause of crime. It is not uncommon for gambling addicts to steal to support their addiction.

Proponents of video gambling have argued that the bar owners need this additional $2.1 million in revenue due to "tough economic times." Who doesn't? Just ask anybody who is unemployed or working and barely making enough to survive. If video gambling passes, only a few will benefit -- at the expense of many. Also, the likelihood of later reversing the legality of video gambling is troubling. If the video gambling referendum is passed, the gambling industry will overwhelm any future attempt to repeal this ordinance, using their enormous gambling revenues to influence every city election.

Belleville is not the first to consider video gambling. In response to this latest move by the legislature and Gov. Pat Quinn to legalize a once illegal activity, Edwardsville, O'Fallon, Swansea, Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, Lake County, Livingston County, Pike County, McHenry County and more than 100 other Illinois counties and cities have already voted "no" to video gambling. Why should Belleville vote "yes"?

If video gambling passes, what will be the next idea to raise money? Encourage the expansion of strip clubs into Belleville? There is a bill in the Illinois Senate to raise money through a user's tax at strip clubs.

Think about the future of Belleville and vote "no" to video gambling.

 

George Uhl is a lifelong Belleville resident.

 

http://www.bnd.com/2012/10/20/2367189/con-gambling-contributes-to-poverty.html

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2012/10/20/2367189/con-gambling-contributes-to-poverty.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2012/10/20/2367189/con-gambling-contributes-to-poverty.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2012/10/20/2367189/con-gambling-contributes-to-poverty.html#storylink=cpy
 

Illinois: Growing Opposition

Casino support fades among public, Tribune/WGN-TV poll finds

Nearly half of Chicago residents oppose gambling expansion proposal, according to survey

By Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune reporter

7:00 a.m. CDT, October 15, 2012

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.

• Graphic: Tribune/WGN-TV poll on gambling
• Graphic: Support by county
• 

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.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-casino-gambling-expansion-20121015,0,1899410.story

Quinn has sense to veto expanded gambling

Ignoring the evidence surrounding them, lawmakers pretend $$$ will magically fall from the Heavens!

They cite the same buzzwords universally, ignoring the community destruction, pretending 'tourists' will descend when studies have unequivocally determined ALL patrons are local.

They universally ignore the costs, the increased crime, homelessness, increased bankruptcies and much else. They ignore that the reason budget pressures are escalating is due to Predatory Gambling.

Much like Massachusetts, they pretend Predatory Gambling is a job creator and an economic tool.

 

Governor rejects plan to expand Illinois gambling

Published : Tuesday, 28 Aug 2012

CHICAGO (AP) — Citing Chicago's reputation of mobsters and corruption, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed a plan Tuesday to bring casinos to the city and four other areas, leaving irked lawmakers with the task of overruling him.

Quinn squashed a proposal that supporters — including Chicago's mayor — said could create tens of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for the cash-strapped state, saying the plan lacked regulatory oversight and ethical standards. He took specific aim at the proposed Chicago casino, saying it would have been allowed to operate under different rules, making it vulnerable to "unsavory influence."

"We're not going to have loopholes for mobsters in Illinois," said Quinn, himself a Chicago Democrat whose two predecessors are in prison for corruption. "The bill that was on my desk was woefully deficient when it came to protecting integrity and honesty and regulation of gambling in our state."

Supporters immediately vowed to fight back, claiming they had enough support to move forward with the plan. The bill, which also calls for allowing slot machines in horse racing tracks, was approved by the Legislature earlier this year with majorities only a few votes shy of what would be needed to override a veto. Lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene for a veto session this fall.

Quinn isn't opposed to gambling and has said all along that he wanted a bill with stronger ethical protections. He said Tuesday that the legislation needed to ban political contributions from the gaming industry, among other things, and urged legislators to work with him on the proposal's shortcomings.

But the bill's House sponsor, Rep. Lou Lang, said his attempts to do so have been rebuffed. The Democrat from Skokie predicted there would be enough support in the House, which approved the original plan just two votes shy of what would be needed to override a veto.

"The bottom line is he doesn't want to sign a gaming bill," Lang said. "If he had language to propose, he would have proposed it."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel also expressed frustration, noting the nearby casinos in neighboring Indiana, and Rep. Chad Hays, a Republican who represents parts of east-central Illinois where one of the casinos was proposed, said it was a missed opportunity for economically depressed communities.

"We are going to go forward with or without the governor," Hays said.

It's the second time that lawmakers have approved gambling expansion, but it's the first time they'll get another shot to pass it. They didn't send a similar plan to the governor last year because he'd threatened a veto.

The veto comes as Illinois is buried in financial troubles. The state has billions in unpaid bills, and its unfunded pension liability is roughly $85 billion and growing. Credit rating agencies say the state needs to act soon or its rating will be lowered.

Supporters said the gambling bill could have brought in as much as $1 billion a year, boosted tourism and created roughly 100,000 jobs for the state.

Emanuel said Chicago loses $20 million a month and jobs to casinos in neighboring Indiana, adding: "It is the responsibility of the governor and all leaders in Illinois to stop this outflow of dollars and jobs."

But opponents warned of market saturation and raised concerns about the social costs. The nonprofit Chicago Crime Commission, which studies city crime, applauded Quinn's veto, saying expanding gambling would invite organized crime.

Under the proposal, a city-owned Chicago casino could have opened with spots for 4,000 people to gamble at once. It also would have added riverboat casinos in Danville, Park City, Rockford and an undecided location in Chicago's south suburbs. Each riverboat casino would have had 1,600 gambling positions, and Illinois' 10 existing casinos could have grown.

In Rockford, a northern Illinois manufacturing community that frequently has the state's highest unemployment rate, Mayor Larry Morrissey estimated that a casino would have created thousands of jobs. He noted the proposed casino across the border in Beloit, Wis., saying out-of-state businesses are snatching up dollars that could be spent in Illinois.

But the governor said the proposal has "too many defects" for him to consider even approving some of the plan.

"It's one thing if you had to make some technical changes here and there," Quinn said. "This bill just falls way short of what the people of Illinois need when it comes to ethics in government."

He also expressed confidence that his veto would survive, adding: "I think I did the right thing."

In his veto message, Quinn focused on the Chicago casino, claiming the Illinois Gaming Board wouldn't have had the same regulatory authority over it as it does over other casinos in the state. He also said the casino would not have to follow the state's procurement code in handing out contracts, which would leave taxpayer-financed contracts "vulnerable to organized crime, unsavory influence and potentially overpriced vendors."

Quinn also criticized the legislation for providing too little support for public education. Past gambling expansions have been designed to bring in more revenue for public services such as schools, but the 1991 law that created riverboat casinos was intended to help economically depressed cities.
___
The bill is SB1849.
Online: http://www.ilga.gov

http://www.wdtn.com/dpp/news/national/Ill-gambling-expansion-Chicago-casino-deadline_16761120

No to more gambling giveaways

In My View: No to more gambling giveaways

By JOHN KINDT

GateHouse News Service

Posted Jul 28, 2012

 

Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to veto the 2012 gambling expansion bill, SB 1849, because of the refusal of the bill’s sponsors to prohibit political and campaign contributions from gambling interests. By vetoing this bill, which would create six new racetrack casinos (called “racinos”) plus five land-based casinos, Quinn will be confirming the tradition of “The Untouchables.” Today, Illinois needs “The New Untouchables” as historically embodied by such organizations as the Chicago Crime Commission established to combat Al Capone.

 

Pursuant to a 2012 study by the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Springfield, thecity of Chicago is the most corrupt area in the U.S.

Gov. James Thompson’s administration authorized the legal granting of the 10 original casino licenses for $25,000 each to political insiders, although the total fair market value of the licenses was $5 billion ($9.5 billion in 2012 dollars). One license was granted to a political insider convicted in the Rod Blagojevich scandals. The 2012 gambling bill gives away another $3.5 billion to $5 billion, among other giveaways, by charging just $100,000 per casino license.

Since the original 10 casino licenses were granted, academics at UIS have spent two decades documenting millions of dollars in legalized political and campaign contributions made by lobbyists to legislative supporters of gambling.

Disturbed by the spreading political corruption accompanying legalized gambling, U.S. Sen. Paul Simon sponsored the bipartisan U.S. National Gambling Impact Study Commission. The panel’s final report called for a moratorium on the expansion of any type of gambling anywhere in the country, and the commission included recommendations for stringent curbs on campaign contributions, the recriminalization of slots/electronic gambling machines convenient to the public, and continued prohibitions on creating racetrack casinos. The Illinois 2012 gambling expansion bill obviously ignores all of these recommendations and adds to the national embarrassment of Illinois.

The state of Virginia rejected casinos during the same time frame that Illinois authorized its first 10 casinos. Virginia now has a surplus, while the Illinois budget is the nation’s worst.

If the Illinois legislature really needed money, it could immediately collect at least $5 billion in casino license fees that the casinos should have originally paid — instead of the mere $25,000 per license. In 2003 legislative presentations in Springfield by the Maryland Tax Education Foundation, for example, the fair market value of the Illinois casino licenses were pegged as being worth up to $500 million each.

Apparently, only troubled casino licenses have a fair market value under $500 million, as casino licenses are laundered by regulators from one casino owner to the next. In 2001, it was reported that Nevada’s Jack Binion, the tycoon of Horseshoe Gaming, was ruled unfit for his $25,000 Illinois casino license. Accordingly, Binion sold his Illinois casino interests for $465 million.

If Illinois needs tax revenues, the current casino license fees are a pot of gold worth billions of dollars. Until these billions are collected, authorizing racinos and new casino license giveaways to political insiders via SB 1849 is a non sequitur. By vetoing gambling expansion, Quinn will draw favorable national attention to Illinois as the home of “The New Untouchables.”

John Kindt is a contributing author and editor of the U.S. International Gaming Report.

http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x1489220153/In-My-View-No-to-more-gambling-giveaways

Exaggerated revenues and jobs

Just as the Gambling Industry, EXPERTS and Casino Cheerleaders have done in Massachusetts, they are doing in Illinois - making up phony revenue projections and irrational job figures.

Much like Massachusetts, instead of sensible fiscal reform and enacting legislation to reduce corruption, Illinois instead believes money will fall from the heavens at no cost.


Ignoring the increased crime, poverty, Gambling Addiction, and yes, even increased SUICIDES, we have lost our moral compass when we believe preying on others makes fiscal sense.

Editorials

Home > News > Editorials

Veto this defiant bill

Gov. Quinn, you need to trust Gov. Quinn on gambling expansion

Gov. Pat Quinn calls for an overhaul of the proposed gambling legislation last October at a press conference at the Thompson Center. (E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune / July 15, 2012)

July 15, 2012

Last October, Gov. Pat Quinn rejected heavy pressure to approve a huge expansion of casino gambling that legislators had passed. No, said Quinn, he would veto that bill and any other that violated his "Framework for Gaming in Illinois." That framework includes some excellent ultimatums that Quinn said any expansion bill has to meet. It also infuriates lawmakers — chiefly his fellow Democrats — who fatten their campaign funds with money from the gambling industry.

During an Oct. 17 news conference, Quinn told sponsors of that monstrous bill: "Start over." They didn't. Instead they slightly improved their bill — the way a $99 paint job improves a jalopy.

Again, they passed it. Again, they're pressuring Quinn to sign it. Again, it manages to be too little, too much, and too burdened by spending provisions to ever deliver the exaggerated revenues its sponsors promise: The bill is woefully short on ethics protections. It expands gaming positions statewide from 12,000 to more than 32,000. And while Rep. Lou Lang, the House sponsor, has said the expansion could bring the state $300 million to $1 billion a year in new revenue, that looks preposterous: Three analyses we've seen — two for the state, one for gambling proponents — suggest that after subtracting legislative earmarks, enforcement costs and other expenses, the amount left for schools and capital projects wouldn't even reach $25 million.

Gov. Quinn, this isn't a painless decision, but it's a straightforward one. You need to trust — and enforce — the standards for integrity and scope that ... Gov. Pat Quinn himself articulated last October. Do that and you'll veto this dangerous bill.

Recognize too, Governor, the realpolitik here: This bill is a flat-out attempt to defy your standards.

The sponsors clearly are convinced that if they can generate enough news coverage quoting the inflated revenue and employment projections that their mega-expansion supposedly would create, then you'll cave or they'll find a way to beat you.

But don't take that from us. Take it from the bill's sponsors and the gambling lobbyists who dance them on puppet strings. They had more than seven months after your Oct. 17 dictum to draft and pass a bill you could sign. Instead they've served up slightly thicker gruel than their 2011 bill — no more gambling at Chicago's two airports or the State Fairgrounds, to name two of precious few improvements. But they flouted many of your demands to ensure honesty and integrity.

And now? Having sent you this 2012 bill, they're promising to meet some of your objections in a so-called trailer bill — a piece of follow-up legislation. Right. The gambling puppets double-pinkie-swear that, if only you'll sign their current bill, they'd be thrilled to give you some of what they refused to give you last fall, winter and spring. You were right to tell them Monday that they should have written this bill "right the first time." Or, you could have added, the second time.

As with the 2011 bill, the deeper we dig in the 2012 bill, the more defiance we find. By our reading, the legislation still doesn't let the Illinois Gaming Board terminate a Chicago casino license in case of corrupt practices. It still lacks necessary oversight for contracts at a Chicago casino. And in a nod to another gambling expansion lawmakers foisted on Illinois, it still doesn't require that communities opt into video gambling. Add to those and similar drawbacks the whatever-big-number-you-want-to-hear revenue projections and this bill is just begging to be vetoed.

Yes, Governor, they'll try to override your veto after the Nov. 6 election. But we'll all be watching to see whether lame ducks who'll be leaving the Legislature suddenly find self-serving reasons to support this huge expansion of gambling.

You were right, Governor, to insist last fall that the Illinois Gaming Board, which has successfully protected the integrity of Illinois gambling for more than two decades, needs unambiguous oversight of a Chicago casino. You were right to conclude that Illinoisans will tolerate a gambling expansion, but not one so huge that casinos and horse-track "racinos" cannibalize the current revenues to Springfield. You were right to insist that Illinois either will have the current video gambling rollout and no casino expansion, or a casino expansion but a much more restricted rollout of video gambling. But Illinois won't have both.

We urge this veto as longtime backers of a reasonable expansion plan, a Chicago casino included. Instead these bill sponsors have openly defied not only you, but any definition of "reasonable."

At some point, the gambling lobbyists will see what the rest of us see: These sponsors have spent too long avoiding ethics standards, over-promising revenues and writing bill language to settle their private grudges against the Gaming Board. Their bargaining has won them votes, but it cannot win citizens' trust.

Gov. Quinn, tell the sponsors and the lobbyists what you told them in October: "Start over.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-gamble-20120715,0,574973.story

The Insanity of Expanded Gambling!

From our friends at NoPlainvilleRacino who also offered this:

Plainridge is a money loser: According to The Boston Globe, Plainridge was initially profitable but has become a money loser over the past five years, and needs the extra revenue that slot machines would generate to keep the facility afloat. Plainridge’s investors, namely a Las Vegas slot machine tycoon who owns 31% of the track, have pumped at least $32 million into the track over the past decade - and that may soon hit $35 million. Since then, each year has brought additional losses, with Plainridge’s backers subsidizing the money-losing operation as interest steadily dropped in live horse racing. How can we expect Plainridge to be successful with a highly complex slot operation if they cannot even make money with their current business venture? What has Plainridge's management been doing since the track opened - “We have been here for 14 years watching paint dry. This is getting exciting. This is light speed.” - says Gary Piontkowski, Plainridge Racecourse's President.


Illinois video comments worth seeing:

"Gambling is a JOB KILLER...A recent federal commission study indicated every slot machine [...] eats about $300,000 of LOST consumer spending from the economy, every year."

CHAMPAIGN--Supporters of a legalized gambling expansion bill that passed the Illinois Senate last week aren't celebrating quite yet. Governor Pat Quinn is strongly suggesting he won't sign the bill saying he objects to the lack of regulation measures. ABC Newschannel 15's Liz Lohuis stepped out of the world of politics and into the world of education to dig deeper into the issue of gambling.Gaming Expansion: Job Creator or Job Killer?
Monday, June 4 2012


http://www.wicd15.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wicd_vid_5329.shtml

Gambling is a JOB KILLER

From facebook --


Politicians are WRONG. Industry people are LIARS. "Gambling is a JOB KILLER...A recent federal commission study indicated every slot machine [...] eats about $300,000 of LOST consumer spending from the economy, every year." 


WICD ABC NewsChannel 15 :: News - Top Stories Videos

CHAMPAIGN--Supporters of a legalized gambling expansion bill that passed the Illinois Senate last week aren't celebrating quite yet. Governor Pat Quinn is strongly suggesting he won't sign the bill saying he objects to the lack of regulation measures. ABC Newschannel 15's Liz Lohuis stepped out of the world of politics and into the world of education to dig deeper into the issue of gambling.Gaming Expansion: Job Creator or Job Killer?
Monday, June 4 2012


http://www.wicd15.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wicd_vid_5329.shtml

How casinos can be a boon-or bust-for local economies

June 13, 2011

Listen live

(Getty/Joe Raedle)

 

A bill that would expand gambling in Illinois is currently awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn's signature.

 

A bill to expand gambling in Illinois awaits Governor Pat Quinn’s signature. If passed, the state would see five new casinos, an expansion of riverboat gaming and more slot machines, at racetracks, the Illinois State Fair and even airports.

Legislators who support the move are after the revenue that more gambling would supposedly create. That could be a boon to economically depressed areas like Rockford, Illinois.

But does gambling always invigorate the local economy? To find out, Eight Forty-Eight turned to Father Richard McGowan. McGowan teaches economics at Boston College and is the author of Dividing the Spoils: States and the Gambling Industry.

Springfield lawmakers addicted to spending

Guest Column: Springfield lawmakers addicted to spending
By Rick Bastian
SPECIAL TO RRSTAR.COM

I watched Gov. Pat Quinn deliver his State of the State address earlier this month. I thought he might be on something. His giddy celebration of a few hollow victories, rosy comments about the future and his serving up a plateful of additional spending seemed out of touch with the reality of a state that can’t balance its budget and can’t pay its bills.

It doesn’t matter much that he calls it “spending” or “investment.” The fact of the matter remains that the governor and the politicians in Springfield seem addicted to spending money we don’t have on things we can’t afford using money we have to borrow and don’t know how to pay back. Spending is their drug, and the taxpayer is their junkie.

I call it Oxycotton Politics. “Oxycotton” is the street name for OxyContin, a powerful and potentially very addictive painkiller. OxyContin, like taxes, when used in moderation and for the purposes it was intended, can have a profound impact on the quality of life.

When taken in larger amounts for longer periods of time, the addiction takes over and the separation from reality sets in. The dependency compromises value systems, disrupts and distorts relationships, and promotes classic destructive addictive behaviors.

Addicts lie, so do politicians. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. They promise it will be over with just one more tax increase … just one more. They vow to stop spending but really never do. Only in government can you call a decrease in the rate of increase in spending a “budget cut.” They tout reforms which when examined under the microscope rarely live up to their promise. They call for the tough decisions they never make.

Addicts steal money to feed their habit. The politicians in Springfield have stolen from pensions. They have stolen from schools, agencies, suppliers and other creditors that don’t get paid on time. Unfunded mandates are a great way to have someone else pay for your habit. But the worst theft of all is the intergenerational theft. Our politicians have figuratively forged the names of our kids and grandkids on debt our kids did not incur for things that will not benefit them.

Addicts look for quick fixes in the easy money. Remember when the lottery was approved with the promise that its proceeds would be dedicated to educational funding? Last year’s tax hike was supposed to be “temporary” and put Illinois “back on a fiscal sound footing.” Fat chance! Quinn wanted to borrow our way to prosperity. Now more gambling casinos are the cure for all that ails us. It has the feel of a panhandler thrusting his cup in your face asking for money for a meal when everyone knows it will be used to feed his habit.

Addicts are prone to the denial of problems even though others can see the negative effects. Although it acts like it just has a bad cold that will go away when the sun shines and the economy turns around, Illinois has a terminal illness because its politicians fail to recognize it and commit to doing something about it. The state’s credit rating is now the lowest of all states. Experts say Illinois is a fiscal train wreck. Yet Quinn insists the state is “back on course” and “moving forward.”

It is too bad there is not a Twelve Step program for politicians. There should be. Their first step would be to admit they do not have control over their addiction to spending.

Rick Bastian is president of Blackhawk Bank.

Illinois: Overstated Revenue Projections

Much as in Massachusetts, the rosy revenue projections have been overstated in attempts to address long-standing flawed fiscal mismanagement.

There's a limit to the amount of discretionary income that can be sucked from the local economies.

Ill. gov report doubts hefty gambling revenues
By DEANNA BELLANDI

CHICAGO

Gov. Pat Quinn's office touted a new report Monday that concludes Illinois wouldn't get much extra money through a massive expansion of gambling, a finding that seems to support the governor's call for a more restrained approach.

The report says an initial gambling expansion bill passed by lawmakers would bring in about $160 million in new annual gaming revenue for the state and not the extra $1 billion they say some have claimed. That bill was never sent to Quinn, who threatened to veto it because it included slots at racetracks, which he opposes. It did include five new casinos, including the first one in Chicago. Illinois currently has 10 casinos.

Chicago also would benefit more from gambling expansion if casino-style gambling with slot machines at race tracks isn't allowed, said a summary of the report by the New Orleans-based Innovation Group.

"A lot of these racetracks with casinos are going to be on top of other casinos. They will dilute the amount of gaming, so that will cause lower amounts for other casinos," said Jack Lavin, Quinn's chief of staff.

The Illinois horse-racing industry has said it needs slots at tracks to survive and compete with other states. [The dead horse racing industry seeks taxpayer bailouts across the country.]

The report studied not only the original gambling bill also two other scenarios that excluded slots at tracks and had fewer gaming positions at the casinos. Quinn's office said the report was commissioned in September and cost less than $20,000.

Democratic Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie, a sponsor of the gambling expansion measure, said estimates can be low when it comes to gaming revenues. But even if the governor's report underestimates how much money a gambling expansion would bring in, it's still new money for the state, even if it's less than proponents have suggested.

"Who else is proposing $160 million new dollars to the state of Illinois," Lang said, adding that opening casinos would also create new jobs.

Lang said he's unsure whether lawmakers will try again to advance a gambling expansion bill when they return to Springfield on Nov. 29. Lawmakers are due back in session to try to hash out a tax incentive deal to try to keep several big companies that are threatening to leave the state and at the same time offer broader tax relief to Illinoisans.

If gambling does some up, Lang said he feels confident he has the votes to pass a bill despite failing earlier this month to pass an improved version of the original expansion bill that was never sent to Quinn.

Lang said he remains hopeful that Quinn, who has laid out a framework for the kind of gambling bill he might accept, will sit down and negotiate with lawmakers.

"My door is open, my phone rings, I'm prepared to meet, I'm prepared to do it right," he said.

Lavin said the new study gives the sides a place to start in negotiations.

"We need to look at the whole picture of what are the real numbers," he said.

Failing gambling proposals

Failing gambling proposals: An annual rite of Springfield
By Mike Riopell

SPRINGFIELD — Just say something if you’ve heard this story before.


State lawmakers — faced with budget problems, looking for ways to create some jobs, hearing the pleas of the suffering horse racing industry — have turned toward more slot machines and casinos to try to heal all those wounds at once.

Then, officials talked in stark terms about the future of horse racing as gamblers took their cash to casinos instead of the tracks. Years later, those revenue declines are even more defined.

But the unpredictability of gambling politics haven’t changed. In 1997, the year Arlington Heights officials approved a nonbinding resolution to oppose slots at the track, Duchossois didn’t panic, but didn’t predict, either.

Nearly every major expansion attempt has failed since, with the exception of legislation that would allow video gambling machines to be installed in bars. Many suburbs have already banned the machines.

And despite that expansion effort and sharply declining casino revenues across Illinois, the push for more casinos and slots at race tracks marches on.

The proposals have taken on many forms over the years, but the results are always the same.

Jim Edgar opposed widespread expansion in the 1990s.

In 2002, lawmakers thought about slots at the tracks, along with legalizing the numbers game of Keno via the Illinois Lottery, and allowing existing casinos to have more slot machines in order to solve a $2 billion budget deficit.

“I don’t play the lottery. I think it’s a stupid thing to do myself. You don’t have any chance of winning. But if it raises $100 million, give ‘em Keno. Be my guest,” then-Senate President James “Pate” Philip of Wood Dale said at the time. “I’m not going to play it.”

In 2005, in a politically puzzling move, House lawmakers even voted to ban riverboat gambling, legislation that would have shuttered the suburbs’ multiple casinos.

Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, an Aurora Democrat, accused the proposal’s sponsor of “political grandstanding to win over a conservative downstate electorate.”

Link predicted the idea of shuttering casinos stood “a snowball’s chance” in the Senate, and he was right. Casinos remain a part of the river-town landscape in Illinois.

Then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich unsuccessfully pushed a plan for casinos and racetrack slots in 2008 in order to pay for a statewide construction program.

“Given the conditions that exist here in Springfield, I think that the proposed expansion of gaming is a dead issue,” House Speaker Michael Madigan said at the time.

Madigan wryly elaborated for reporters, referring to Blagojevich: “I think most of you have written about those conditions.”

What has made 2011 different so far, though, is that it’s the first year lawmakers in both the House and Senate approved a plan that could be sent to the governor.

Quinn didn’t like it, though, so now lawmakers are back to the drawing board. Quinn seemed at least somewhat willing to deal after the latest gambling rejection in the House this week.

“The governor commends the House on a robust debate on this subject,” said Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson. “It’s clear that this proposal needs more work, dialogue and analysis. We look forward to working with the General Assembly on this issue in the future.”

Despite years of frustrations behind him, Lang made it no secret Thursday that he’d try again.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “Or next month, or next year.” [They NEVER give up!]

Illinois: The Folly of Poor Fiscal Management

Elsewhere are lengthy articles about the historical fiscal mismanagement of Illinois and their desperate financial plight. With high unemployment and no revenue stream to fund government, much less bond payments, desperation leads to folly and false solutions.

Statehouse Insider: Is a smaller gambling bill even possible?

Gov. PAT QUINN finally outlined his vision for an acceptable gambling expansion bill last week. It does not include slot machines at horse racing tracks.

Ultimately, he said, “it cannot be some kind of bill that passes to appease every single lobbyist in Springfield.”

Well, actually governor, when it comes to gambling expansion, pretty much every lobbyist has to be appeased. That army of lobbyists out there represents all of the various (and often competing) interests in the gambling expansion debate. If they all aren’t appeased to some degree, gambling expansion bills fall apart. That’s pretty much been the story with gambling expansion bills for years and years.

It is a classic example of the way Quinn operates. At its core, it is a populist idea. Let local communities decide whether or not they want to legalize gambling on video poker machines. And remember, the key word here is legalize it. The presumption is that wagering on these machines is going on anyway, it’s just under the table. Legalize it and the state has some control over it and also gets a share of the stakes.

That share of the stakes is why the state went down this path in the first place. Money from video poker machines is a key source of funding for that $30-plus billion capital plan that was passed with great fanfare a couple of years ago.

Requiring communities to opt-in to video gaming in all likelihood will dry up a significant part of that expected revenue. But populist Quinn never got around to saying how the state will make up that money that’s needed to pay off construction bonds. It was another case of saying the popular thing and not fully thinking out the consequences.