Opponents cried foul Monday over a bill that would triple gambling seats in Illinois and install a city-owned mega-casino in Chicago.
"Illinois does not need to become the Las Vegas of the Midwest," said James Wagner, president of the Chicago Crime Commission.
Wagner, along with other organizations and citizens, gathered to oppose the bill, which the Illinois Senate passed in September. The House is poised to take action in early November.
The bill, which has been pushed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a way to close the state budget gap, would create three new casinos, including a land-based site in Chicago, and allow existing riverboat casinos to expand by several thousand gaming positions, such as slot machines.
The proposal has raised eyebrows for establishing what would be the first government-owned casino in the nation, with a permanent, irrevocable license. Opponents said the city-owned casino proposal lacks mechanisms for accountability and a feasible plan for operation, oversight and regulation.
Wagner, who called for a referendum on the issue, also singled out "the 800-pound gorilla in the room."
There is an organized crime infrastructure that is "still active, still powerful and engaged" in Chicago, Wagner said. Law enforcement officials are not confident they could derail potential infiltration by crime groups, which have historical ties to gambling, he said.
When asked, at an unrelated news conference, to comment on opposition to the casino proposal, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said, "We don't have any decision-making in terms of casinos."
Money generated would help fund a $13 billion state borrowing program for road and school construction projects and mass transit in Chicago. Schools also would see $300 million more, much of that for the base-level classroom spending per student.
Talk of expanding gambling has become as inevitable as death and taxes at the Illinois Statehouse. But in the past, gambling measures usually died because they got so loaded up with goodies that legislators backed away.
The Illinois House Gaming Committee is scheduled today to hear testimony from key stakeholders, including the Illinois Gaming Board and Chicago Chief Finance Officer Paul Volpe.
