Here we go again…
Monday, May 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Emanuel has personally discussed a proposed city casino with all four legislative leaders, as well as with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and his staff, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. The talks have come as two legislative hearings on gambling expansion are scheduled in downtown Chicago over the next two weeks, with the first set for 10 a.m. Monday at the Bilandic Building. […]
So far, two bills that include a city casino have surfaced in the Capitol, each introduced by Rep. Robert Rita, D-Blue Island, whose district includes parts of the city’s South Side. Both call for the state to own and operate the Chicago casino. Emanuel, though, wants the city to own the casino.
Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, and Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, have been discussing a third bill with Emanuel’s office that Link says would create a large, city-owned casino in Chicago, as well as add new casinos in the south suburbs and in Rockford, Danville and Lake County, Link’s home turf. The plan also would allow year-round video gambling at Arlington Park and Illinois’ four other horse tracks.
“We’ve just received another proposal from the city. We’re reviewing that now,” Link says. “We’re trying to see how it looks compared to what we had. It’s a pyramid. If you pull one brick out, the whole thing could fall apart.” […]
“They may not be proponents of gambling, but they realize this is something that would benefit a lot of people,” Link says. “I’ve met with [Rauner]. I know the mayor’s met with him. It’s a thing we’re moving along.”
* CBS2…
Now that Emanuel has begun a new push for a Chicago casino, Rauner said “I’m open to considering gambling expansion; and whether it’s for the city of Chicago, or other places.” […]
“I’m not a fan of gaming,” he said. “I think it causes some negatives in our communities, as well as positives. It certainly can be a job creator, and a tax revenue generator, so those are both two good things.”
The governor would not say what he has discussed with Emanuel and legislative leaders, as the mayor has begun lobbying the General Assembly for a new city-owned casino to boost tax revenues at a time the city is facing a $430 million operating deficit, $550 million in increased payments to police and fire pensions, and $1.1 billion in deficits at the Chicago Public Schools.
If history is any guide, the only way this survives is if all four leaders and the governor and the mayor are pulling in the same direction.
- Norseman - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 10:57 am:
Name the Casino Raunerworld and the Gov will push it with all his might.
- downstate commissioner - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:06 am:
Norseman wins!!
- jimbo - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:11 am:
Gambling is such a good idea. We should look to Atlantic City for an example. Oh, wait, they are closing casinos there.
- Arizona Bob - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:17 am:
There’s a lot of details to work out here. If the Casino is built on the old Meigs Field or in the old McCormack place, it makes sense. There’s a lot of out of town money that would flow to it. IMHO, it would also make a lot of sense to have slots at OHare and Midway. With lots of out-of-towners stuck waiting around for connections and having got there two hours early for security checks, that could be a real gold mine. It works REALLY well in Vegas. the sticking point here may be whether Rahm wants to make this a patronage haven for direct hired city workers and retirees, causing pension obligations to jump. Of course hiring politically managed firms that never meet financial goals, as in the case with the lottery, is no great shakes either.
- MrJM - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:18 am:
“We need a carrot that will get Rauner on board…”
“What if we promise that if a senior citizen slips and falls while playing the slots, the staff will leave her lying on the floor?”
“Genius!”
– MrJM
- Annon3 - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:18 am:
Jumbo except here they will close in Indiana not Illinois. I hope O’Hare and Midway are included as what a great way to tax non Illinoisans.
- Roamin' Numeral - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:23 am:
Put slots at the tracks please. Expanded gaming at racetracks currently takes place in these states:
Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Maine, Delaware, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico.
Massachusetts joins that list on June 24 when Plainridge Racecourse opens its new racino.
Please help Illinois horsemen.
- Wordslinger - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:30 am:
Rather than give Emanuel or some clout-heavy insider a casino license for Chicago, how about auctioning it off to the highest bidder and keeping a piece of the action?
- Rod - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:37 am:
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research has been studying Illinois Casino Gaming Statistics for years now. The pot of adjusted gross revenue for the Casinos in the state have been in decline since 2006 when they hit their high at $1,923 billion. The last data from the Illinois Gaming Board for 2014 shows adjusted gross revenue of $1,465 billion with a decline in admissions to Casinos in our state.
There is little reason to believe an expansion of Casinos in our state will yield a windfall of money for the state as a whole, it might however redistribute some of the revenue to a Chicago based Casino and draw some limited new tourist dollars if it were upscale enough.
- VanillaMan - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:42 am:
The casinos need to be where the money is - near north and Winnetka. Otherwise you would just make the poor poorer. Gambling is a rich man’s addiction and everyone else’s curse.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:44 am:
Rod, a big part of the problem is that Illinois casinos rarely remodel. Gamblers like the new places. Just look at how Vegas changes so much every few years and at the hot newish casino outside Chicago. St. Louis has a “wow” casino on the river. Alton and ESL can’t compete because they’re so drab and old.
- Louis G Atsaves - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:48 am:
Is the Chicago Casino going to be placed on the lakefront? Why not, everything else is these days.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:58 am:
Instead of a casino, put slots machines in places that already draw tourists. There’s always someone in the group who really doesn’t want to wander around in the Art Institute. Some slots by the gift shop would keep that one person busy while the rest of the group looks at art.
- Plutocrat03 - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 11:59 am:
If they go for a complicated multi casino-racing deal it will fail.
Make it a single city owned casino with a public process of bidding for an operator and it has a chance.
Like the lottery, gambling is losing its luster. Walk in to a casino and check out the demographics.. The patrons are well along in years and when they drop out, younger patrons are not replacing them. Seems it is like golf - dying a slow death
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 12:00 pm:
===Make it a single city owned casino with a public process of bidding for an operator and it has a chance.===
I’m not sure they can. They’ll need Downstate and suburban votes. More importantly, once Chicago gets a casino, there will be no more expansion ever.
- Frank Ambrose - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 12:22 pm:
Great Idea with a few conditions:
1) The entire State portion of the revenue stream goes directly to the State Pension Systems in addition to the scheduled State payments.
2) All Local (City and County) portions of the revenue stream go directly to the City and County’s Pension Contributions in addition to the City and County’s scheduled pension payments.
3) Do not let the City or State own the casino, they will only hire a potential casino operator to manage it further reducing profits
4) Let the bidding process for the license go on as before with a set minimum bid with the entire winning bid go LUMP some into the state pension systems
This should help to fix the dire emergency that Rauner, Emanuel and others have been screaming about. Put the money directly into the pension systems don’t let the state, city or county have a chance to divert the money.
- Under Further Review - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:02 pm:
Slot machines at Illinois horse racing tracks before the last horse track closes?
- Juvenal - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:08 pm:
Frank:
I can hear them shouting “just like they promised to do with the lottery money” already.
Before you propose a new lock box, you have to fix the old one, whether the problem is real or imaginary.
- Enviro - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:50 pm:
Three casinos didn’t save Detroit from bankruptcy. A casino in Chicago would most likely be controlled by the state not the city. But the Illinois Governor and GA should think carefully about this issue.
Expanding gambling is another example of regressive taxation which hurts low income people. However gambling also takes money from many businesses creating winners and losers and increasing income inequality, addiction, and crime.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:52 pm:
===Three casinos didn’t save Detroit from bankruptcy===
How is that an argument? Detroit was a complete economic and fiscal basket case. Chicago is a fiscal basket case. Detroit wasn’t exactly a tourist/convention destination center, either. Chicago is.
- Enviro - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:57 pm:
Cheryl44@11:58am
That was a really funny post.
But I think we all know that there will never, ever be a slot machine at the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Frank Ambrose - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 1:59 pm:
Juvenal, 1:08 - If they are going to put the legislation up, now is the time to add these conditions. The pension “underfunding” by the state, city and county has led us to this “crisis”. If they want a casino to provide jobs fine, but all government revenue streams from it MUST go directly to the pension systems or no casino for Chicago. I’d even support legislation that after a five year period after independent outside auditors confirm the pension systems are 100% fund (as the legislators are claiming must be done now to order to create this “crisis”)that revenue stream could then go to the state, city and county, IF and ONLY IF the annual pension payments of these 3 entities, as established by the independent outside auditors to maintain 100% funding is made by the state, city and county. if they really want it for jobs and economic revitalization, accept the legislation with those terms.
- Macbeth - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 2:15 pm:
Put it in the Congress Hotel already. Smack dab downtown. If you want it to make money and draw, do it big.
About time, too.
- Juice - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 2:23 pm:
Rich, while you’re right that most other casinos, especially in Vegas, remodel much more frequently than casinos here do, it doesn’t change the fact that the GA has not been able to pass an expansion bill up to this point that does not simply give away the store, leaving little revenue left for the State. The fact of the matter is, once Rivers opened, we saw an increase in overall AGR, but because of a combination of the giveaways in that deal and the loss of business at the other Illinois casinos, we haven’t seen any sort of increase in taxes to the general funds from that much less complicated expansion.
- Steve - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 3:00 pm:
Why should a Chicago casino by owned by the city of Chicago? Is anyone saying a casino can’t be run by the private sector? Is someone looking for patronage jobs??? How long will it take before the casino is skimmed through the IT department???
- Ghost - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 3:28 pm:
I still think this is a dangerous solution without better controls over people who dont have the money to lose being drawn in and creating greater social problems and crime.
Now if you put it at the airport and draw mostly out of towners, im all in.
We cut social services and the establish vices which pray upon people to raise money and then cant understand why the demand for social services spikes….. The money these places rake in has to come from somewhere. At least in Chicago there is a better chance at drawing in out of state people.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 3:32 pm:
===establish vices===
The vices already exist. The government shouldn’t be about protecting adults from themselves.
- Wordslinger - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 3:45 pm:
A new shiny Chicago museum would definitely be a winner.It might also do in Aurora and at least one of the Joliet casinos but that’s the way that business works.
As far as the tracks go, I’d be sympathetic if they made an effort. When’s the last time you heard a radio spot for a track? Have you ever seen a TV spot? They’re in the entertainment business, for crying out loud.
- OneMan - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 4:31 pm:
Wordsligner at least in downtown Aurora, the only thing that the casino helped was to some small extent is the Paramount, the rest of downtown isn’t much better off than before the casino.
It seems to me however if Chicago gets a casino, they would have to allow video poker as well.
Finally, only Vegas (at least in the US) is destination gaming (there is stuff besides the gaming and the gaming is a destination) everyplace else you are going to gamble. A Chicago casino isn’t going to attract new visitors it is going to to just take money from folks who would visit anyway and locals.
- Talledegah - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 8:14 pm:
“Protecting adults” - True, but the city doesn’t need to exacerbate a known concern by providing fiscally suicidal people with a figurative rope.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 4, 15 @ 8:19 pm:
===but the city doesn’t need to exacerbate a known concern===
It’s a free country I think.