* Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe is a former state legislator. He surely knows from his experience that the best way to pass a bill which benefits Chicago is to also insert stuff for Downstate and suburban areas, and vice versa.

So, by arguing that the Chicago component ought to be stripped out of the gaming bill, he’s essentially undermining the likelihood of any gaming expansion approval…

While it was unlikely that Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe’s idea would take shape before Friday’s end-of-session deadline, similar ethical concerns have been echoed in the governor’s office and came as final negotiations were in the works. The bill calls for casinos in Chicago, Danville, Rockford, Chicago’s south suburbs and Lake County, as well as numerous slot machines. It also sets aside revenues for certain groups.

Jaffe has publicly blasted the proposal - which remained in a House committee Tuesday - because it establishes a separate board to oversee a Chicago casino. He said giving that control to a board of mayoral appointees leaves the door open for corruption. He told The Associated Press that the bill is trying to do too much.

“It’s a Christmas tree bill,” Jaffe told the AP. “You have one political party that is in the governor’s mansion, controlling the Senate, controlling the House. You’re telling me they can’t pass one bill that will give the city of Chicago a casino? That blows my mind.”

* Rep. Bob Rita, the sponsor of the House gaming bill, held a press conference this morning to say basically the same thing I did at the top of this post. From BlueRoomStream.com’s Twitter feed…

* I’m also told that one of the things Gov. Quinn and Chairman Jaffe are fighting for behind the scenes is giving the board approval power in case Chicago decides to sell its license. Right now, that approval power rests with the General Assembly.

* And this is from Rep. Rita’s spokesperson…

There is a dispute between the City of Chicago and the Cook County Board over whether some revenues from a Chicago casino should go to Cook County, or whether county revenues should only come from a south suburban casino. Rep. Rita wants that issue worked out in a compromise.

I should have audio from Rita’s presser in a bit.

*** UPDATE *** Video from the Rita presser…

Thanks to my new intern Andrew Niebur for the video.