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Lots and lots of stuff today. Let’s get to it.
This is probably the most cogent critique of Judy Baar Topinka’s plan to expand casino gaming. It’s from Elgin Mayor Ed Schock, who is conflicted because he has a boat in his community, but he makes sense.
…casino owners would have to invest in their existing facilities to build the new stations. As for Elgin’s casino, a new boat at a cost of $150 million would have to be built to accommodate the new spaces or they would have to be built on land - a concept that has so far been rejected by the public, Schock said.And in Illinois, the chances of seeing gambling giants dump more money into their casinos is slim considering they already pay the highest taxes in the country, Schock said.
Elgin’s casino, for example, pays 73 percent, Schock said.
“Why are you going to invest more in Illinois, so you can pay more taxes?” he said. “For (Topinka’s plan) to work they have to look at the tax structure. That’s why the numbers aren’t realistic, because it’s not all new money. It’s not going to work that way.”
Gov. Blagojevich also made a very valid point.
[Blagojevich] said if Topinka’s plan has any chance of passing in the Legislature, it wouldn’t wind up just being one casino for Chicago because other communities would want theirs and other groups would clamor for gaming, including slot machines at horse racing tracks.“Then all of a sudden it’s not what it was and suddenly Illinois becomes, to quote Treasurer Topinka, Las Vegas,” he said.
Topinka pretty much confirmed this yesterday.
Republican governor candidate Judy Baar Topinka refused Thursday to rule out new casinos for Waukegan and the south suburbs and slot machines at horse tracks, throwing some doubt on her stated opposition to gambling expansion.“I’d have to see what the legislature sent me,†Topinka told the Daily Herald editorial board Thursday when asked if she’d veto a gambling package that included new casinos for Waukegan and the south suburbs.
Topinka also said she’d “have to look at†a gambling measure that included slot machines for horse tracks like Arlington Park.
Meanwhile, my Sun-Times column this week is also about the plan.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a serious candidate for governor lay out a detailed budget plan as Judy Baar Topinka did this week.Incumbents always challenge their opponents to produce an alternative plan of their own, and the opponents usually respond with a few broad ideas and a “vision for the future” label slapped on for good measure.
The reason we don’t ever see specific, detailed proposals is that those details invite tremendous amounts of nitpicking, and candidates who get bogged down in nitpicking usually lose. Before they can respond to one critique, the other side and the media have already moved on to, “But what about paragraph 849?”
Gov. Blagojevich went on the offensive,
Gov. Blagojevich was in Chicago, touting figures that show Illinois added more new jobs than any other state in July, and he called the GOP casino proposal a “fraudulent gimmick†that would do anything but balance the budget.“She would take it back to how it was under Ryan and Topinka with a $5 billion deficit, except there’d be three times the amount of gambling and fewer kids and senior citizens would have health care,†Blagojevich said.
He also said…
“She’s spent the last year or so getting on her high horse attacking my administration, saying things like quote-unquote we have to live within our means, that we shouldn’t have any quick fixes,” the governor said during an event at a Chicago pretzel factory. “And yet, when you propose a massive expansion of gambling that nearly triples the amount of gaming positions that would exist in Illinois, if that’s not a gimmick, I don’t know what is.”
Mayor Daley talked more about the two competing education funding ideas.
The back-and-forth between the candidates came as Mayor Richard Daley appeared to soften his previous demand that a Chicago casino be owned by the city; the state’s nine existing casinos are privately owned.“I don’t care if it’s private. I don’t care if it’s public. I don’t care if it’s owned by anyone,” Daley said. He still questioned why taxpayers shouldn’t own a casino and enjoy the profits while hiring a private firm to manage it
The Sun-Times editorial was positive for JBT:
This page has long favored a casino for Chicago, as well as more gambling positions for existing casinos, to generate more revenues for state and local governments. And while it is not the ideal way to fund schools, we think it’s better than Blagojevich’s plan to sell or lease the lottery. It gives the state a steady, significant revenue boost that won’t expire a few decades down the road. The state should look to a Chicago casino. Education funding needs more than a casino quick fix, of course, but right now, it’s the best proposal out there.
And an Indian tribe announced plans for a bingo center near DeKalb.
Just months after paying top dollar for a family farm near this southern DeKalb County community, a Kansas Indian tribe announced ambitious plans Thursday night to bring Indian gaming to Illinois.The Prairie Band Potawatomi of Mayetta, Kan., said they intend to open a 22,000-square-foot bingo hall with electronic gaming stations for 750 players on a 128-acre farm they bought in April. The farm is off University Road, near Preserve Road.
Tribal Chairwoman Tracy Stanhoff conceded that the proposal for the bingo hall would be controversial but said the hall would be good for the region.
UPDATE: I asked some of the other state Republican candidates whether they supported Topinka’s plan. Sen. Dan Rutherford, who previously said that gambling is “an inappropriate way to feed the jabberwocky of a hungry government,” is now in favor of JBT’s proposal. From the campaign:
Sen. Rutherford supports the plan as long as it is an allocation of the 10th license, as has been his position in the past.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 8:24 am
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As an NIU student, let me be the first to welcome Indian Bingo to Dekalb!!!
Comment by Lovie's Leather Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 8:43 am
No matter who wins, 2007 wouldn’t be a bad year to finally actually pass a Christmas tree gambling bill (assuming you’re not opposed to gambling altogether). The pension ramp is getting steeper, Medicaid costs aren’t going away, and both candidates have created pressure for increased education funding. So everybody will be looking for revenue. It’ll be an opportune time to make a deal.
If a gambling package can be combined with a tollway sale that pumps some cash into the pension system, then all of a sudden the state’s finances will look a lot better. Getting there will be extremely tricky, but if the Speaker decides he wants it, it’ll happen.
Comment by Gus Frerotte's Clipboard Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 8:45 am
And you know the Speaker will want it!!!
Comment by Lovie's Leather Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 8:47 am
Of course he will… that’s his money!
Comment by Squideshi Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 8:50 am
I know it is out of character for me but I have a semi-serious question:
Don’t we at some point reach the point of diminishing returns in terms of gambling revenue? Are New jersey’s state finances better than Illinois’ because of Atlantic City?
The Boardwalk is a deserted wasteland occupied by prostitues and crack dealers after dark and the whole city suffers as a result.
I have no moral objections to gambling but casino gambling is a sucker’s bet and more gambling ends up being just another regressive tax on the mathematically illiterate. From what I can see, most casino gamblers are those who can least afford to lose and almost noone seems very happy on their way home. It is kinda sad watching hoards of seniors pump their social security checks into the machines.
Orlando seems to do OK in the convention business without a casino.
Why don’t we in Illinois take the high road, raise some taxes, cut some spending and hold our heads up high instead of taking the low road and rely on more gambling to fund our thirst for greatly needed state services?
Comment by Bill Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 9:03 am
Bill, you’re mostly right. Local gambling ultimately isn’t very good for the economy. Tourist gambling can be good for the economy — if there’s one place in Illinois we should have a casino, it’s next to McCormick Place. I’m certainly not saying this is what should happen, but it’s probably what will happen.
Unless, of course, the Speaker decides that he wants income taxes increased now rather than later so that Lisa doesn’t have to do it, in which case Frank Watson becomes the key player in the game. Madigan and Cross could get a veto-proof majority together on a tax increase, and Jones can get a lot of votes on it. If Madigan (or somebody else, but who else?) can peel off a few Senate Republicans, then you have a coalition, and it doesn’t matter who’s governor and what they think.
Comment by Gus Frerotte's Clipboard Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 9:15 am
Is it true that the Elgin casino pays 73% taxes? That sounds pretty high.
Comment by Little Egypt Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 9:20 am
“Elgin’s casino, for example, pays 73 percent, Schock said.” That is a misleading statement. The casinos pay on a sliding scale. They pay 15% on the first 25 million, 20% on the next….They only pay 70% on the amounts over something like 200 or 250 million. (the extra 3% is the amount the 4 bigger boats are suppose to pay to horse racing). The actual blended rate only works out to be around 48% for a boat like Elgin while Rock Island blended rate is between 15-20%. The top tax rate is high but some states have a flat 50% tax which actually makes Illinois a high tax state only if you do really well.
Comment by anon Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 10:36 am
Rich as to your blessing of Mayor Schock’s comments on gaming;
First, if his boat is so sorely damaged by the state’s current gaming taxes, I guess they’ll be selling their boat at a discount to some fool—NOT!
And, under such onerous conditions, certainly they won’t want any additional slots if they come available—NOT!
I think you all ought to re-read the info on JBT’s proposal, and you’ll quickly realize the most likely two reasons why Mayor Schock doesn’t like it.
Comment by steve schnorf Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 11:45 am
Is it just me, or does Rod sound like the challenger in this race?
Comment by Scoop Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 11:56 am
Scoop, you may have hit the nail on the head. Bush did pretty much the same thing to Kerry, but with different tactics. In the end, it became a referendum on whether Kerry could be trusted to govern, and not as much about whether Bush deserved another term.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 12:09 pm
After reading the news coverage that the Governor described the proposal as a “fraudulent gimmick†I nearly laughed myself into incontinence. This, from the man who only last week came out with a sweeping energy proposal, one of the cornerstones of which was encouraging service stations to offer E-85. You want to talk “fraudulent gimmickâ€? Try finding E-85 at a CMS (a/k/a State of Illinois) operated garage and you’ll discover that most of them don’t offer it! Sincerity begins at home, and if the Gov hasn’t even addressed the issue at the locations HE controls then perhaps I was wrong in laughing; I guess he is better than most at recognizing “fraudulent gimmicksâ€!
Comment by Faithful Reader Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 6:49 pm
yea, rich, but bush was the incumbent during a war. its hard to beat a war time president. JBT is no Bush, not even close (and I vote dem) I have a hard time believing she comes off as a “regular” person and a harder time thinking she can solve the states woes
Comment by WWDMD Friday, Aug 25, 06 @ 9:31 pm
Hoping to squeeze more blood money mostly from the same group of down-and-outs who are already losing money they can’t afford to lose, isn’t a plan. It’s a disgrace.
Comment by Anonymous Sunday, Aug 27, 06 @ 10:29 am
Deleted “Ophelia,” this is not a public park, this is a privately owned business. Therefore, you have no inherent rights to say whatever you want and I have no obligation to provide you a forum. You’re banned. Permanently. Go away.
Comment by Rich Miller Sunday, Aug 27, 06 @ 2:38 pm
As the grandson of Polish immigrants, I propose a project to coordinate gambling in all the Moose, Knights of Columbus, and Elks clubs across this great state. They already have bingo, Vegas nights, Sweet 16 playoff pools, and bars. Why should Chicago be the prime gainer? They are far from poor or down and out. Locally you could park free. Slots in every grocery store. Think of the tax revenue.
Comment by zatoichi Sunday, Aug 27, 06 @ 7:45 pm