Illinois Governor Wants Pension Fix Before Casinos
Mirroring comments he has been making for a number of months now, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said this week that he will not sign off on gambling expansion in the Land of Lincoln until lawmakers sort out the state’s catastrophically underfunded pension program.
Quinn sees gambling as a luxury of sorts
Earlier in the year, Quinn compared casino expansion to “desserts” with the meat and potatoes on his plate clearly being fixing the pension system that serves the retired public employees of the state. Currently Illinois is facing a massive pension crisis, with the system running a deficit of some $100 billion.
This means that a casino expansion bill currently awaiting a vote in the Illinois House – known as Senate Bill 1739 – is unlikely to be signed into law by Quinn if it passes that chamber. That bill would put five new land-based casinos in Illinois, including one in downtown Chicago. SB1739 has been highly controversial, with the Chicago casino receiving a lot of attention from pundits and neighbors, some of whom strongly support the idea and some who are ardently opposed.
Governor not a big supporter of expanded gambling
“I will never, ever sign a gaming expansion absent comprehensive pension reform,” Quinn was quoted in the Chicago Tribune earlier in the week, referring to the bill that passed the Illinois Senate at the beginning of this month.
While it bears some resemblance to two previous gambling expansion bills that Governor Quinn vetoed, the current legislation calls for tighter prohibitions against campaign contributions by casino interests, among other concessions designed to appeal to the historically anti-gambling expansion Quinn, who ascended to the state’s highest office after his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, was impeached and eventually convicted of attempting to sell President Obama’s vacated Senate seat. He is currently serving a 14-year sentence in Federal prison.
SB1739 does not include online component
The contentious casino expansion bill, which would also allow for slot machines to be installed in Midway and O’Hare, the two Chicago area airports, originally surfaced with language that would have permitted a comprehensive array of Internet gambling options. That portion of the bill was removed to placate the horse racing industry in the state as well as to soften the measure for Quinn, however last week a draft of a new, standalone online gambling bill emerged.
Incidentally, a sponsor of the legislation that would bring online gambling to Illinoisans, Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), has a working proposal to fix the state’s pension problem. Quinn has been critical of Cullerton’s plan, calling it “short of what’s needed.”
Little time left to move legislation forward
Whatever happens to the Illinois casino expansion bill, it had better happen fast as the current legislative session will draw to a close on May 31. In the meantime, Illinois continues to watch potential gambling revenue literally drive over the borders, as residents travel to nearby Indiana and Wisconsin to visit casinos in those states.
For his part, Quinn has made it clear that he has another priority ahead of gambling after pension reform is achieved, and that is the issue of gay marriage. A marriage equality bill is also making its way through the Illinois legislature, which Quinn feels confident has the votes to pass and has been vocal in encouraging lawmakers to support. If such a bill passes in Illinois, the state will become the second in the Midwest to legalize gay marriage after Minnesota did so just last week.
Check back as we continue to monitor the legislation in Illinois as well as casino and gambling news from across the United States.
