Video gaming advances

by Jamey Dunn
A bill that would expand gambling to help pay for new schools passed in a House committee today.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Frank Mautino, a Spring Valley Democrat, would allow establishments where liquor is served, fraternal organizations, veterans' clubs and truck stops to have video gaming machines such as video poker. Many places already have the machines, but they can't legally pay out winnings. If approved, the state would require establishments that offered video poker to be licensed and would legalize betting on the games. The machines also would be taxed, with revenue going toward school construction projects and local governments.



Mautino said he did not make racetracks or off-track betting facilities eligible to operate video poker machines because he wanted to keep the bill simple in hopes of increasing its chances of passage. “For years this bill has been around, and it gets involved in the giant end-of-session bills, which usually collapse under their own weight,” he said.

Here's a break down of some of the numbers associated with the measure:

• 25 percent The percentage of net profits from the video gaming machines that would be taxed.
• 20 percent The amount that would go toward building schools.
• 5 percent The amount that would go to local governments.

• $2 The maximum wager per hand.
• $500 The maximum payout per hand.

• 21 The minimum age to play.
• $5,000 The maximum fine an establishment would pay for allowing someone under 21 to gamble.

• 25 The percent of licensing fees and fines that would go toward treating gambling addiction.
• 75 The percent that would go toward regulating the process.

Anita Bedell, speaking on behalf of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems, said that making gambling so convenient would lead to more widespread addiction. “These machines are like the crack cocaine of [gambling] addiction,” she said. “The problem is people don't have to get in their car and drive to Las Vegas or a casino or a race track. They can just go down the street to a truck stop, or a restaurant or a bar.”

House Speaker Michael Madigan said last week that he does not want to consider any gaming expansions this session.

Read more...

Gas, Gambling, Games, Governor and Safeguard

By Jamey Dunn
A gas tax increase, a proposition to sell lottery tickets online and early plans for possible 2016 Chicago Olympic Games all progressed in the legislature today. So did a measure to protect youth from sex offenders who prowl on social networking Web sites.


Gasoline
A controversial measure to increase in the sales tax on gasoline, proposed by Democratic Rep. John Bradley of Marion, advanced this morning. Bradley warned that HB 1 still needed work, and he urged committee members to support the concept rather than the details as introduced.

Gambling
A bill backed by Senate President John Cullerton would allow the state to sell lottery tickets on the Internet. Sen. Don Harmon, a Democrat from Oak Park, said SB 1654 would do three things:

1. Prohibit the state from selling the Illinois Lottery to private investors.
   
2. Allow the state to hire a private firm to manage the lottery, while the state would still own it. Harmon said the idea would be to “contract with someone smarter than us to operate it.”
3. Create a pilot program to sell tickets for the Lotto and Mega Million games online.

The measure advanced out of committee today, but Harmon said it needed work before it would be ready for a final vote on the Senate floor.

Games
The Senate sent a bill to the House that is an early step towards preparing for the possibility of the 2016 Olympic Games being held in Chicago. The specifics of the bill will be worked out in the House, but sponsor Sen. Kwame Raoul, a Chicago Democrat, said it was important to get the ball rolling to meet an April deadline set by the International Olympic Committee.

Governor
Also in the Senate today, Cullerton announced that Senate Secretary Deborah Shipley (scroll down for bio) will join Gov. Pat Quinn’s staff as director of legislative operations. It’s another move that could build bridges between the executive and legislative branches, which have had frosty relationships during the past six years.

Shipley was elected secretary by Senate members in January 2007, replacing retired secretary Linda Hawker. Shipley will bring some institutional knowledge and offer guidance to Quinn’s relatively new and young legislative staff.

Safeguard against sex offenders
By Hilary Russell
The state could make it harder for individuals convicted of sex crimes to use the Internet.

Rep. Sandra Pihos, a Glen Ellyn Republican, is sponsoring HB 1314, a bill that would make using a social networking Web site a Class 4 felony for registered sex offenders. Convicted offenders must register with the state.

Earlier this year, Pihos said she read a report that nearly 100,000 sex offenders were removed from social networking Web sites in Connecticut and North Carolina, where two state attorneys general targeted sex offenders who used the Web.

“If they can remove that many sexual predators, we can do that here,” Pihos said. “Until we’re sure we have a mechanism in place that actually safeguards our children from sexual predators being on that site, I just feel that here in Illinois, we need to put some legislation in place.”

Her bill would apply a Class 4 felony or up to a three-year prison sentence if someone used social networking Web sites while registered as a sex offender. As a condition of parole, probation or release, the offender would have to agree not to use such sites as MySpace or FaceBook.

MySpace and FaceBook have more than 180 million users, and Pihos said that it’s an ideal anonymous place for sexual predators to troll for young people.

Read more...

We have a budget, but no construction plan

By Bethany Jaeger and Patrick O’Brien
The state will continue to operate with some funding increases for education and human services, but schools and transportation districts across the state will continue to wait for state funding for badly needed construction projects. The Illinois General Assembly wrapped up business for the spring session and isn’t scheduled to return until November, but all are waiting to find out whether the governor will call them back to Springfield to address a capital program.

The last day of regularly scheduled session had some surprises, some predictable outcomes. But it leaves a lot of questions. Here are a few examples of what the legislature did, what it did not do and where we go from here:

What the legislature did:
The House and Senate approved a $59 billion operating budget that could spend about $1 billion more than the state could collect in revenue next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Legislators will leave it up to Gov. Rod Blagojevich to cut programs and projects to get closer to a balanced budget.

The GOP in both chambers rejected the budget for being out-of-balance crafted solely by Democrats. “The ironic thing is you’re going to have the governor be the adult in the situation,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross during floor debate.

The budget as approved also would increase funding for higher education and human services, including pay for home care workers. It does not improve the Medicaid payment cycle, meaning many doctors could continue to experience cash flow problems as they wait an average of 70 days for state reimbursements.

Both chambers also approved free mass transit rides for some individuals with disabilities, a follow-up to the governor’s initiative to add free rides for seniors as part of a deal to save Chicago-area mass transit from cutting services. And downstate mass transit districts finally are expected to receive the increase in state funding that helps them pay operating costs, which also was promised but never delivered as part of the Chicago-area mass transit deal.

Also, as we mentioned this morning, both chambers sent an ethics reform package to the governor that would ban state contractors from donating to officeholders who let the contracts.

What the legislature did not do:
While House Democrats agreed to let the governor decide how to carve out the budget, they rejected a long-awaited capital program because many of them don’t trust the governor to divvy out the money as promised.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, who held a rare 35 minute news conference after the House was about to finish business, said the governor’s leadership style is one “which brings on conflict and confrontation rather than conciliation.” He said the operating budget limits the way the governor can spend money, but the capital plan wouldn't guarantee the governor would release the funds promised.

What’s next for the capital plan?
The capital plan ballooned to a $34 billion proposal by the Senate, and the longer it’s delayed, the more likely it is to keep increasing in cost. It has expanded and retracted countless times in the past few years. This time, negotiators, led by former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard, did a lot of homework to select the funding sources and the projects that were most agreeable to all parties, but the scope of the plan required a lot more revenue than previously discussed. So the revenue ideas multiplied from creating one new land-based casino in Chicago and expanding positions at the nine existing riverboats to creating three new gaming facilities, expanding gaming at existing riverboats and allowing slot machines at horse tracks. The plan also would bank on a fourth new riverboat when the state’s long-dormant 10th gaming license is cleared of legal troubles. The plan is massive. And it’s controversial.

Now that the House Democrats shot down the opportunity, most legislators look to the November session. Delaying the capital plan does four things:

First, it allows legislators to wait until after the November elections to take a tough vote on a controversial funding source, such as gaming or, gulp, taxes. The speaker said, in general, one of the first places he’d look for more state revenue is an increase in the state income tax. “It’s the fairest tax. If you make money, you pay the tax. If you don’t, you don’t pay the tax.”

And in fact, the speaker said the biggest problem with recent attempts to approve a capital plan is that legislators don’t want to accept the tough choices. “My position is there should be a construction program, but it’s going to require some people to do something which is going to carry some pain. They’re not going to be applauded when they vote for a fee increase or a tax increase.”

He wouldn’t offer any alternative revenue sources tonight, “but we’re open,” he said.

Second, a delayed capital plan waits to find out the results of the federal corruption trial against Tony Rezko, a former insider to the Blagojevich Administration. The longer legislators delay a capital plan, the closer it gets to the end of Blagojevich’s term.

Sen. Dale Risinger, a Peoria Republican, described why he thinks those who want to wait contribute to the ballooning of the next capital program: “We get near the end of the Blagojevich Administration, so there will be some people who say, ‘Well let’s just wait until we have a new administration and see which direction we want to go.’ Unfortunately, with the inflation, the cost of construction goes up. And a couple more years of deterioration of our infrastructure means the program has to be that much larger the next time, which makes it even harder to do.”

Third, it risks losing future federal matching funds. The feds already earmarked about $9 billion for the state, but Illinois hasn’t committed its share. The longer the state waits to put forward the match, the less competitive it gets in securing highway funds in the next federal transportation bill.

Where do we go from here?
We wait to find out whether the governor will call legislators back before November to address a capital plan.

Read more...

Transit on the move

By Patrick O’Brien and Bethany Jaeger
Editor’s note: Welcome Patrick O’Brien, our new Public Affairs Reporting intern from the University of Illinois at Springfield, where he’s earning his master’s. He’s from Chicago and is the former editor of the Independent at Northeastern Illinois University.

Before hearing a word of testimony at the Illinois House Gaming Committee today, Chairman Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, issued a warning that signaled action on gambling expansion in Illinois was far from eminent. Instead, the committee set the stage for a showdown about mass transportation funding over the next two to three days. Lawmakers will start the new legislative session Wednesday with trying to prevent a doomsday scenario for Chicago’s transit system.

Rep. Bob Molaro, a Chicago Democrat and point person on gaming issues, said gaming was being put on the back burner to find a solution for the transit funding crisis. “I’m hoping we do mass transit the next two days. I was never one to say let’s hold mass transit hostage for capital.”

He’s talking about a group of downstate lawmakers who previously vowed not to vote for a Chicago-area mass transit deal until the legislature also advanced a major capital program that would fund new construction of roads, bridges and schools. But with the flip of the calendar to a new spring session, it’s going to be easier to approve legislation than it was in the past seven months of overtime session. Fewer votes are needed now.

But needing fewer votes hardly tames the challenges confronting the General Assembly. Trust or lack thereof is the biggest hurdle to agreeing on ways to collect taxpayer money to pay for such large spending programs.

Molaro, co-sponsor of the gaming legislation, said the biggest obstacle to approving a gaming deal, for instance, is divvying up casino revenues.

“The good news about a gaming bill, it raises about $1.2 billion extra money every year — but that’s the bad news about the bill, the fight’s going to be over how to spend it,” he said.

The measure seeks to empower a revamped Illinois Gaming Board to exercise strict scrutiny over a potential Chicago casino, which would help fund a statewide capital program.

Lang’s message made clear that while the gaming expansion is key to funding a capital program, an agreed upon proposal won’t be ready to go for weeks. Lang told the audience of lobbyists and activists that if they testified before this meeting of the committee, they wouldn’t able to testify at future meetings on the primary gambling proposal in the House, HB 4194.

Read more...

The 12th month

The Illinois House is working on a plan to expand gaming as a way to pay for a long-awaited infrastructure projects around the state. That plan is highly anticipated because it has potential to unlock the entire, gridlocked legislation session of 2007. Downstate lawmakers say they won't vote to subsidize Chicago-area mass transit until a statewide capital plan materializes.

But while gaming negotiators say there are only a few issues to work out before a gaming bill comes through, there’s another set of negotiations that could potentially further delay an actual deal. As spelled out by Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat and House Gaming Committee chair, Thursday, the challenge is never ending: “So there’s going to be $X billion in capital. What’s on the list? Who gets what? When do they get it? How do they get it? What’s the priority? How do you make sure that people get what they’ve been promised?”

Once those questions are answered, there’s still the question of whether those plans would have any future in the Senate. Lang said after Thursday’s special session that he didn’t know.

Those types of incremental steps have drawn out the entire session, all 12 month’s worth. Yes, Gov. Rod Blagojevich again threatened to call state lawmakers into special sessions throughout December if they can’t agree on how to subsidize Chicago-area mass transit and finance the statewide infrastructure plan. “There is the possibility we could have special sessions every day as we get closer and closer to Christmas,” Blagojevich said outside his Capitol office Thursday afternoon. December marks the seventh month of overtime session.

House Speaker Michael Madigan told his members to expect a four-day notice if they were to be called back to Springfield in December.

If the governor does resort to calling special sessions, there’s a chance lawmakers would simply “gavel in” and “gavel out,” or convene and then adjourn without doing any actual business until a deal is made. That’s been the case in many of the 18 special sessions so far this year. The governor’s office says at least they’re in the same building and more likely to meet. “They’ve made little noticeable progress over the past several weeks when they were not in session,” said Abby Ottenhoff, Blagojevich’s spokeswoman, in an e-mail. “When they are in session, they are at least talking and working toward a solution.”

Read more...

No action sets the stage for another show

Compromise would be a welcomed word during this 6th month of overtime session, but Wednesday’s special session — the 17th called by Gov. Rod Blagojevich this year — exemplified the “you show me yours, I’ll show you mine” game played by legislative leaders and caucuses, said Rep. Bob Molaro, a Chicago Democrat. He provided comic relief with a candid and blunt analysis during a committee hearing Wednesday night.

The daily news is that the House shot down a mass transit plan that was backed by the governor and drafted by House Republicans. It was altered by House Democrats, and House Speaker Michael Madigan urged lawmakers to support it as an “act of compromise.” But the bigger picture is that the mass transit plan was doomed from the start. By letting it die in the House, the speaker demonstrated that yet another one of the governor’s plans failed.

It’s all come down to two issues: 1) How to save Chicago-area mass transit from cutting services and raising fares and 2) how to finance an infrastructure program for roads, bridges and schools statewide.

“There’s a lack of trust on many fronts,” said Sen. John Sullivan, a Rushville Democrat. He was one of nine senators who reiterated Wednesday that he wouldn’t vote for a mass transit plan without a capital plan. “We need an assurance that both of these issues will be addressed, and the only way we see to do that is if they’re done at the same time.”

Madigan said he’s continuing to negotiate on a capital plan, which would rely on gaming expansion to pay for the bonds. But he said he refuses to tie gaming to mass transit. On the other hand, once a gaming-for-capital plan drops, downstate members of both political parties would be more likely to approve a mass transit plan.

While Madigan said he was “disappointed” Wednesday night, the failure of the "compromise" plan could revive another measure that the speaker prefers, Rep. Julie Hamos’ measure. It previously failed but is preferred by Madigan for its “regional approach” with a sales tax increase in the Chicago area, as opposed to the compromise plan that would have taken money from the state’s general revenue from the sales tax on gas.

Hamos’ measure was framed as the lesser of two evils in debate Wednesday night — Molaro joked that it was “the greatest bill that never passed" — but the governor repeatedly vowed to veto the measure because it raises general taxes. Hamos pointed out, however, that lawmakers will have to make some tough votes whether they vote to save mass transit by increasing the sales taxes in Chicago or by diverting general revenue from the sales tax on gas.

I’ve given up on timetables and deadlines for legislative action, but pressure points will start to pop in December if lawmakers don’t deal with at least mass transit. Besides risking angering Chicago-area voters who would be affected by fare increases, lawmakers from all parts of the state risk being stuck in Springfield during the thick of campaign season due to the early primary election, February 5.

Lawmakers return to the Statehouse Thursday, when the governor called another special session Thursday to focus on mass transit funding with a capital plan.

Read more...

Bill Dwyer Says Source of Road Money “Doesn’t Matter”

I wasn't able to attend Bill Dwyer's rally at the intersections of Route 31 and 62. This picture of Congressman Don Manzullo is from that rally, but in no way indicates his support for expanding gambling in Illinois, a position I would be amazed if he took.
= = = = =

When I was in the General Assembly, I used to muse that schools didn’t care where more money would come from.

If it came from the syndicate, well, no problem.

That thought came to my head when I read former McHenry County Board member Bill Dwyer’s comment to Daily Herald reporter Kerry Lester on the irrelevance of the funding source to improve roads in McHenry County:

"We're here to fix McHenry County's roads. If that's paid for by gambling money or not, it doesn't matter. Whatever way the Senate or House passes a capital bill, we'll take."

Actually, my take on the school folks’ avarice is pretty close to Dwyer’s comment.

The end justifies the means.

And the "demand" for money that ought to be provided because of "need" is what the gambling folks hope will convince legislators like State Representatives Mike Tryon, Jack Franks and Mark Beaubien to vote to make Illinois the gambling capitol of the Midwest.

It apparently does not matter that Illinois would become second only to Los Vegas in casino presence.

The social fallout is irrelevant.

It doesn't matter if another McHenry County Sheriff's deputy falls victim to the disease and finds money to gamble at the courthouse.

It doesn't matter that people can’t spend money on goods and services if they gamble it away.

That's a thought not a thought worth considering.

Just so we get roads that were promised a decade ago.

Back when amendments filed by state representatives had to be voted upon before a bill could move forward to passage stage, I introduced one to a casino expansion bill that required the erection of a lighted sign on the top of every riverboat. The sign had to say in very large letters (many, ten foot letters)

“LOSING”

“Losing,” after all, is what gambling is all about, isn’t it?

Posted first at McHenry County Blog.

Read more...

Illinois Internet Poker?

OneMan looks at the gaming bill

Page 30

1 (230 ILCS 5/3.24 new)2 Sec. 3.24. Electronic poker. "Electronic poker" means 3 poker by use of electronic aids, including via the Internet or 4 by other electronic means. "Electronic poker" does not include 5 slot machines.

Will someone explain to me how this would be allowed under federal law? If the feds can regulate interstate and extrastate gaming how can Illinois do this unless it is limited to state residents or locations within Illinois.

More at OneMan's Thoughts

Read more...

Lying Gambling Sponsors

The Sun-Times reports Saturday that Senate President Emil Jones snuck a section in the bill to expand gambling to four new Illinois cities, including Chicago, as I read the article.

Dave McKinney reports,

"it would divert 2 percent of revenues from the four casinos to Chicago State University, potentially handing the school a $40 million windfall that would double its take from the state…

"In committee, Jones initially said Chicago State wasn't in the legislation."

When Senate Republicans pointed him to the specific section, Emil backed down

Boy, does that remind me of the original riverboat gambling bill.

There was Rockford’s State Rep. Zeke Giorgi presenting the bill.

It was night and I had finished my work for Central Management Services and was playing GOP House staffer.

The casino bill arrived. It was a long bill, just like today's 218-page one.

I started reading it.

Before I could finish, the debate began.

State Rep. Margie Parcells took the floor to oppose the bill.

She asked Zeke about the promised $500 betting limit per cruise that was supposed to be in the bill.

As Zeke always did when he wanted to confuse people, he mumbled something about it’s being in the bill.

“Ask him what page,” I suggested to Margie.

She did, as I kept searching for the language.

Neither Zeke nor his staff could come up with a page or a section, but Zeke continued to insist that the $500 limit on losses each time a person went on a riverboat cruise was in the bill.

It wasn’t.

Zeke lied.

Just as Emil Jones lied about Chicago State University’s big payday should this year’s huge expansion of gambling be enacted.

No House Republican voted for the original gambling bill.

Now the GOP has been co-opted, dare I suggest, by campaign contributions from gambling interests.

There is more than one lesson in the how gambling has taken center stage in Illinois politics.

Lie and buy come to mind for starters.

And, of course, there is more at McHenry County Blog this weekend. You can even find out two who are running against Melissa Bean in the primary and the general election.

Read more...