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Casino expansion clears both chambers

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Illinois

The day’s biggest news involved the Senate’s 30-27 vote in favor of a massive gambling expansion that would lead to casinos in Chicago, the south suburbs, Lake County and downstate, plus permit slot machines at racetracks and, possibly, the city’s two airports.

The plan, sought by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills), faces an uncertain future with Quinn. While supportive of a city casino, the governor has repeatedly expressed opposition in recent weeks to “top-heavy” gambling expansion.

Aides to the governor declined to state his intentions after a vote that represents the biggest expansion of gambling since lawmakers authorized 10 casinos in 1990 and ends two decades of stymied legislative efforts to add casinos.

But the new mayor, in his first month in office with a huge legislative win, was effusive.

“Today’s vote brings us one step closer to a significant victory for job creation and economic growth in Chicago,” Emanuel said in a prepared statement. “A Chicago casino will create 7,000 to 10,000 jobs and help energize our city’s economy.”

* Carol Marin adds her two cents…

Gov. Rahm Emanuel — you can call him “Mayor” if you’d prefer — is running the table in this state.

Our elected governor, Pat Quinn, opposed a major expansion of gambling in Illinois. But Emanuel had a hand full of aces, and Quinn was left holding the joker. Thus, Chicago is on track to get a big, new casino of its own, along with four more casinos around the state. Add to all that slot machines at racetracks and at Midway and O’Hare airports.

Quinn can pull out his veto pen if he wants.

But that veto is in serious doubt given the budget hole he’s in and given his own party’s refusal to give him the budget he wanted.

* Gov. Quinn’s folks are choosing their words carefully…

Yet, Quinn spokeswoman Annie Thompson Tuesday didn’t dismiss the current proposal out of hand.

“The governor is open to proposals to raise revenue, create jobs and protect funding for education,” Thompson said.

* An important point…

Not only has he expressed his opposition to widespread gambling expansion, the bill comes at an awkward time. Quinn has been criticized—including by Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago)— for introducing a budget in February that neither the House nor the Senate accepted as realistic. That got the session off to a rough start with both chambers developing their own spending plans. It also made Quinn irrelevant in the budget crafting process, according to Cullerton.

And some gambling supporters worried Quinn might remind the legislature of his relevance by vetoing the bill.

Cullerton softened his criticism Tuesday night, saying the governor “is always relevant. The governor is the one who has to sign these bills and if he doesn’t sign them, that shows you how relevant he is.”

* But this will weigh heavily in favor of a signature…

Some supporters counted on the financial enticement of a bill that would generate at least $1.5 billion in upfront licensing fees. It’s money earmarked to help pay some of the state’s overdue bills, and the cash would free up other dollars for social programs. Backers conservatively estimate the plan would add another $500 million a year to the state treasury.

* And David Roeder takes a look at possible Chicago locations…

Block 37. The development between Macy’s and the Daley Center could serve as a podium for a casino, and the location meets the demand of downtown business interests that want it next to hotels and restaurants. But shoppers and college students on State Street form an odd mix with gamblers. Would the proximity to local government headquarters be too much symbolism?

Northerly Island. Open-space advocates would howl, but that might not deter Emanuel, who badly needs a new source of city revenue. Developer J. Paul Beitler said of the site, “It is controllable. It is containable. It is on the lake. It could be the next Navy Pier.”

Old Chicago Main Post Office. It’s Chicago’s incredible bulk, at 2.7 million square feet. It’s big enough for a casino, hotel, parking and other uses but coordinating such a development would be a challenge. The owner, globe-trotting investor Bill Davies, is an unknown commodity here. “It’s hard to do a little bit of that building,” said an expert who asked not to be named.

Lakeside Center. The oldest building at McCormick Place is on the lake and might be the best choice to get a casino up and running quickly. It might take only a few weeks. But the convention industry doesn’t want a giant distraction from its normal business, and the building is remote from hotels and restaurants. The McCormick Place bus lane would get a workout.

There are other sites in the mix, all with significant drawbacks. They include Navy Pier, Trump Tower, the old Michael Reese Hospital at 31st and the lakefront, the Congress Hotel at 520 S. Michigan, the vacant U.S. Steel site on the lakefront south of 79th Street, a Chicago River site near the NBC Tower and a development site at the northeast corner of Randolph and Franklin.

Considering what Donald Trump said about Mayor Emanuel’s former boss a few weeks ago, I seriously doubt he’s in contention. The Congress Hotel site would rid the city of a non-union, strike-plagued eyesore, so it’s been pushed in the past by some union leaders.

* Related…

* Details of gambling expansion legislation

* Chicago Casino Comes With Significant Cost

* Lawmakers pass gaming expansion

* Video gambling still stalled
for now

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 8:47 am

Comments

Even if signed, the revenues will not reach projected estimates.

As the rhetoric start to ramp up, it is clear the new money will not be used to to solely reduce the debt, but to restore and invent new spending schemes.

Watch how the arts and other entertainment venues in the areas around the new casinos start becoming stressed. Certainly the arts venues who are not self sustaining in the first place will have to ask for more public help to survive.

Gambling has never worked as a tool of economic development. Why do our legislators not recognize this? Greed perhaps?

Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:02 am
So whats the bill number on this one?

Thanks

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:05 am
The gambling bill is the legislature’s latest hit of crack; they think it will solve their budget problems. It’s just as likely to cause other problems the State will have to spend money on.

Someday they will have to do the real work of cutting discretionary expenditures and raising taxes to bring things in balance. But that will require starting from a zero based budget, honoring existing contracts to employee’s, retiree’s, vendors, and bond holders, then examining every state program with an *unbiased* cost / benefit analysis and, if the total remaining at the end exceeds existing revenues, increasing revenues. That will happen the day after the Cubs win the World Series …

Comment by Retired Non-Union Guy Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:12 am
===they think it will solve their budget problems===

Nobody thinks that.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:13 am
Rich,

OK, I should have said help solve *some* of their budget problem.

Comment by Retired Non-Union Guy Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:16 am
I’m a little confused. Is Cullerton holding this up or is he sending it to Quinn?

Comment by Realist Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:18 am
Also it isn’t like Trump has a great casino track record.

The site question really comes down to how quick do you want it and/or can you accept a temp site?

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:21 am
Gambling has never worked as a tool of economic development. Why do our legislators not recognize this? Greed perhaps?

But it is one of the few (if only one I can think of) that if someone says ok, you will find someone right away who will do it).

You can say ‘you can build a car plant here’ and odds are no one will, you can say ‘you can put a casino here’ and odds are lots of folks will want to.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 9:33 am
I was heard a minor IL pol say it best…governments turn to gaming when they do not have the courage to deal with the real issues at hand.

Comment by Niles Township Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:14 am
As far as locations:

1. Trump riverside retail space: Pro: could be up & running the fastest, but casinos would hate having all the windows. City would have to make sure no falshing bright lights etc, this would have to be an upscale place.
2. Main Post Office: Pro: close to downtown, but not in it. This site needs development help. Con: Wow is there alot of work to do in this building, including environmental remediation. It would take a bundle of cash and time to make this right.
3. Michael Reese: Pro: Not in downtown, but near convention center. Site needs development. Con: May be too far from center city to work.

In any event, I see Lakeside Center opening as a temporary casino, no more than 24 months, while a permanent one is constructed at one of the sites above. MPEA signs off as long as it is temporary, and they get their payoff for leasing the space.

Comment by Niles Township Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:18 am
It is a very sad day in Illinois and Chicago with the casino expansion bill.

Part of me thinks I’m a relic of the past. Perhaps that is true. With Des Plaines opening on 7/17, Chgo has it’s closer by casino.

The character of this city will change forever in a way we will regret as time marches on.

Raw political power play is what got the bill passed. I don’t stand in awe or applaud that action. Just read history and review how many raw political deals have been done. Then read about the cost and years it took to clean up thoses messes. We will have to do the same thing here.

Perhaps the conservatives, I have always criticized are right in some ways. You allow government to run amok, you have to pay for their actions.

Doug Dobmeyer

Comment by Doug Dobmeyer Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:22 am
Where to place the casino? One word: PARKING.

Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:37 am
–Certainly the arts venues who are not self sustaining in the first place will have to ask for more public help to survive.–

What are you talking about, specifically?

–The character of this city will change forever in a way we will regret as time marches on.–

What city is that, Mayberry? It’s Chicago, for crying out loud. Al Capone, bang-bang. I think it can handle a casino.

Block 37 makes sense. A nice shot in the arm for State Street. The old Post Office is an environmental disaster.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:39 am
How important is parking going to be for a Chicago site? The other casinos have lots of parking, would folks (expect/want) to drive to a Chicago casino?

Also I think the old PO would take too long to get ready to host a casino.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:43 am
Okay, OneMan, if there is not ample parking, the casino should be located within a block of an El station. People need to get to this some other way than a cab or a bunch of potential customers will be cut out. Furthermore, locating a casino in the heart of the city would make sense. Many said that museums and shops would be adversely affected by the near proximity of a casino. I disagree. The more passerby traffic you can get, the better chance that you can market to them and increase your sales. I can think of a dozen tie-ins with a casino to get people into my store, if located within walking distance. Restaurants would benefit mightily. I believe museums would not be affected at all (hardly the same demographic as a casino) but may actually increase their revenues as more folks have access to their locations. People coming into the heart of the City would do more than gamble, it would become an event.

Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:56 am
“you can put a casino here’ and odds are lots of folks will want to”

Of course they would. It is an economic dead weight for a community, and a blockbuster win for the anointed ones who will run it. Since the operators will not likely be local, think of it as a permanent siphon out of the pocketbooks of the local economy.

Anyone who has read any of the gambling studies knows that the casino’s mission is to suck out every dollar they can, so that no money is left for museums, theater performances, art galleries etc. Their goal is to leave you with only the money needed to go home…..

The black hole of Block 37 would likely be a strong candidate for a site with a transportation hub in the center. It is certainly underutilized.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:16 am
I worry that all the current $ that goes to the various nearby casinos (Illinois,Indiana,Iowa, etc) will just be spread out some more with no real increase in revenue. Other than the slots that will go in at O’Hare airport, ain’t we just slicing up the pie in smaller pieces? However, 5 casino licenses will bring some jobs/revenue into the state if only for the constuction season. Too bad for the existing casinos - I can see Joliet, Aurora and Elgin casinos drying up as well as those on the lake in Indiana if a casino goes into Chicago. Not that I don’t think one should go there. It seemed silly to me that all these smaller venues got casinos but the big city got bupkus.

Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:32 am
Two places where gambling worked as an economic development engine are Las Vegas and Tunica, MS. That is largely due to the fact that, absent casinos, no one would ever go there in the first place.

A casino in Chicago will canibalize our economy, not enhance it or expand it. It won’t be big enough to lure people here, but people who visit here for other reasons might drop some money in that otherwise would have been spent in a museum, a theatre or a restaurant.

Chicago is never going to become a destination for gamblers. It will only vacuum up dollars that might be spent elsewhere. This is a bad, bad idea on many levels.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:57 am
===It will only vacuum up dollars that might be spent elsewhere.===

Yeah, like Indiana casinos.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:03 pm
Rich, when was the last time you were at an Indiana casino? I was at East Chicago recently, and let me tell you, if that crowd comes back to Chicago, I don’t think I’d like to be hanging out with them. No offense, but I prefer a more sophisticated crowd of degenerate gambler. EC was like Donkey Island. Yikes.

But your point is well taken. Get those dollars back to Chicago and keep those buses off the Skyway. Got it.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:08 pm
My wife gambles in Indiana.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:09 pm
Then she knows what I’m talking about.

I’m not against gambling, I’ve been to almost every Illinois casino and several in Indiana. I like the Four Winds in New Buffalo the most because that feels like a real casino.

But the atmosphere at most of these places leaves a lot to be desired. It’s like a sad retirement community at a bad carnival. I hope Chicago raises the table limits high enough to keep the place a bit more respectable, befitting our world-class status as the Monte Carlo of the Midwest.

FYI, I recently heard that Monte Carlo’s casinos are off-limits to residents. You need a foreign passport to be admitted. That’s an idea worth considering — out of state licenses only.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:22 pm
I guess I am the only degenerate soul who is glad this bill passed FOR MY SAKE? Granted, I’ve only gone to casinos a half dozen times in my life and the only Illinois casino I’ve ever visited was Par-A-Dice. When I went to Vegas I only played slots and that was only so my girlfriends and I could get free drinks in between shopping sprees or going to bars. But ever since I took a summer trip to New Orleans and was wondering around their main drag looking for something to do one afternoon and wound up seeking refuge (and dropping some cash… not cash that I would have spent otherwise in New Orleans) in their air conditioned Harrah’s, it occurred to me that a downtown Chicago casino could suck out more dollars from visitors to Chicago. And this belief was reconfirmed for me when I met my friends husband who lives on the far north side of Chicago but makes a trip once every two or three months to gamble in Hammond because he thinks all the Illinois casinos suck in comparison.

Now I’m not crazy about the racino or the slots at Midway and O’Hare business that was a part of this bill and frankly just seems tacky to me (albeit less tacky than the already-passed video poker in bars) but I am genuinely excited about the prospect of a downtown casino coming to Chicago, at least initially.

My enthusiasm for this is only tempered by a few caveats… are there going to be poker rooms in this downtown Chicago casino? I would hope so because what I would envision for a Chicago casino would be an upscale nice place to compete with Hammond for things like the WSOP circuit events and other poker tournaments.

Unfortunately, with real estate at a premium in Chicago and so much squabbling to come about regarding where to site this I do worry about what the end result will be if they just try and squeeze a worldclass casino in something like the Block 37 site. I mean that location could be great because it’s still not too far from the River North nightlife, lots of nearby hotels, Red Line and Blue Line close, Metra not much further away, and you could have people coming down and spending 30 minutes in the casino before or after their trips to the theater or seeking refuge in the casino in the winter or summer after checking out nearby Millenium Park on hot or cold days.

But as others have pointed out, there’s no parking there and in my opinion that site would be too small to fit all the things needed to make the place an actual upscale destination casino befitting of our world class city for tourists(like the inclusion of poker rooms to offer more than just slots and building a casino that includes a small concert venue and/or a great nightclub).

Now I’m not saying that means you should put it at the Old Post Office just because that wouldn’t have the space issues, because that site has it own whole host of problems, but I do wonder if it might make sense to do something to the space where the old Meigs terminal sits on Northerly Island if there was a way to make public transportation to that site work. That has a nearby concert space, attractive lakeviews, and plenty of space to develop and build a real upscale casino without being quite as far from downtown as the McCormick Place site.

But I guess all this daydreaming may be for moot if Quinn keeps on about how topheavy this all is.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:52 pm
@Rich -

Soon she’ll be able to take a break from gambling to shop downtown Danville, instead of fighting the traffic on Michigan Avenue.

Back to my point — unless you are Vegas…and Illinois is not — casinos do not make their money off of tourists, or players who visit once a month.

They make their money off of people who live close enough to gamble and lose every week.

No one west of Decatur is going to drive to Danville to gamble when they can be in downtown St. Louis in less time.

No one north of Kankakee is going to drive to Danville when they can go to Joliet, Chicago or Indiana.

There are no people south of Danville, and those who live east are going to Indianapolis instead.

According to the web, Wisdom Casino in Mt. Vernon generates less than $500,000 in annual revenue and employs fewer than ten people.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 1:43 pm
Let’s just have one agreement on the casinos, no government subsidies. Let them be built with private funds, and if they go out of business, no bailouts.

Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 1:46 pm
@Realist -

As with the capital bill, I think that Cullerton is holding the bill until he has a commitment from the governor to sign it.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 1:47 pm
YDD, Wisdom Casino in Mt. Vernon is not a casino. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not a casino. The closest casino to Mt. Vernon is the Casino Queen in East St. Louis.

Comment by Old Shepherd Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 2:01 pm
YDD - Danville has a population of 34,000 and sits on a well-traveled interstate. Metropolis has a population of less than 6,500. According to the Illinois Casino and Gaming Association, Harrah’s in Metropolis:
Year opened: 1993
Employees: nearly 800
Visitors in 2008: 1.076 million
2008 total Illinois tax revenue generated: $30.2 million
2008 local share of tax revenue: $7.4 million

If these are the statistics for Metropolis, what would they be for Danville with five times the population?

Comment by Both Sides Now Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 3:56 pm
BSN, you don’t think the Metropolis population generated those million visits, do you? And you don’t think Danville is going to get 5 million visits, do you?

I suspect Metropolis draws from Cape Girardeau, Paducah and the Kentucky Lake vacationers.

Nothing against Danville. If a private interest will build a casino there, salud.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 4:29 pm
No I don’t believe a casino in Danville will draw 5 million visitors, but YDD said you had to have enough people who lived close enough who would visit once a week for the casino to be successful, and indicated Danville didn’t have enough. I was simply pointing out that Metropolis has 20% of Danville’s population and according to the statistics, does just fine.

Comment by Both Sides Now Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 4:56 pm