Sponsor of Illinois Casino Bill Stepping Aside
Illinois State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie), who has long been one of the most vocal as well as one of the most visible supporters of expanding gambling in the state, has disassociated himself from a casino expansion bill currently awaiting a vote in that chamber, of which he is a sponsor.
Lang said to be assisting city in casino license bid
The Chicago Tribune reported last week the Representative Lang has a conflict of interest that makes his involvement with the bill, known as Senate Bill 1739, no longer feasible.
While Lang himself declined to directly assert just what that conflict is, the paper reported that Lang is working with a law firm to help Calumet City, which lies south of the city of Chicago near the Indiana border, in its bid to land a casino.
Casino work presents no ethical violation, Lang contends
According to the Tribune, Lang has been working with the law firm of Odelson & Sterk, Ltd. for about a year, in its bid to help Calumet City win a casino license. For his part, Representative Lang says he is recusing himself from working on the bill lest the public interpret his work with the firm as an ethical breach, which he insists is not the case.
Lang said last week that he was “distancing [him]self from public perception that there may be something untoward because there isn’t. ”
House has a new sponsor for the bill
State Rep Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) is taking over sponsorship of the highly contentious measure, which would put five new land-based casinos in the Land of Lincoln, including one in downtown Chicago.
Illinois State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan), who sponsored SB1739 in the Senate, where it passed earlier this month, told the paper that he has met with Rita to go over the finer points of the proposed legislation and is confident that Rita will prove to be a fitting sponsor for the measure in the House chamber.
“He’s on the (powerful House) Executive Committee. He’s from the south suburbs. He’s always voted for the bill. I’m not concerned,” Link was quoted as saying.
Casino expansion measure is divisive
The casino expansion bill, as with many bills of this nature, is proving to be a contentious issue in Illinois. While special interest groups and anti-gambling interests are predictably sparring as to whether adding more casinos to the state is the right thing for Illinois, the fight is also taking place at much higher levels.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn are said to be at odds over the bill, particularly language in the measure that would allow the Chicago casino to operate somewhat independently of the other casinos in the state, something that Quinn stands firmly against, citing the potential for corruption under such an arrangement.
Emanuel, who has pushed hard for the Chicago casino as he believes that revenue generated by the property would be critical toward narrowing a major Chicago Public Schools budget shortfall, remarked last week at a press conference, “We’ve made a number of changes, which I agree with wholeheartedly, to give the state board some oversight and some ability to review pieces of the casino that are essential for its governance.”
“We are working through the details, but the objectives are not in doubt,” Emanuel said.
As to whether or not Quinn will sign the bill if it reaches his desk, that remains to be seen, but State Senator Link said that he felt that lawmakers and the Governor were close to agreement on the matter.
