Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Slots at Illinois Racetracks: An Update

Deccember 14, 2007

A plan to expand gambling in Illinois so the state can raise money for several needs has left a Joliet legislator torn over whether to back it. House Speaker Michael Madigan on Monday proposed a casino for Chicago and a second one in another town, plus the re-issuing of the dormant 10th license planned for Rosemont. He also called for allowing the state's current nine casinos and five horse-racing tracks to install thousands of slot machines.

The Senate approved a gambling expansion bill, with two more casinos, in September. They also then approved a $25.1 billion capital bill to help schools and fund infrastructure projects.

On Wednesday, State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, D-Joliet, expressed concerns about the Madigan plan while fielding a question at the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry luncheon. This year, Wilhelmi repeatedly called for legislators to pass a capital bill.

The Senate gaming bill includes the so-called "anti-cannibalization" provisions to guard against the new casinos hurting the bottom line of existing casinos. Wilhelmi wanted those provisions, which would protect Joliet's two casinos. The House will consider the Madigan gaming expansion plan Monday.

The proposal already faces an uncertain future, with other Senate Democrats raising issues about the details of the casino ownership plan.

"Gaming expansion generally, and specifically to the Joliet community, is problematic," Wilhelmi said. "How much gaming can we absorb before we're just competing for the gambler? "I have read (Madigan's proposal) a couple of times and I don't think we're anywhere near a resolution on gaming and therefore, I don't think we're near a resolution on capital."

The Madigan plan calls for allowing the casinos to expand their gambling positions from 1,200 to 1,500. Adding slot machines and video poker machines at race tracks could hurt the casinos, Wilhelmi said. Madigan's plan would allow Arlington Park to add 1,100 machines. With that change, Arlington could be open around the clock.

If that happens, "Arlington becomes another Harrah's or Empress," Wilhelmi said, referring to the Joliet casinos. "(The gaming expansion) is the revenue to pay for a capital plan, so I have to make sure that my vote will not hurt the people I represent."

After the luncheon, Wilhelmi said the horse racing industry in Illinois has 30,000 employees and that he understands the concerns of track operators. But at "what point do we say that the industry has to take care of things on their own?" he asked. State Rep.

Brent Hassert, a Romeoville Republican who has been a negotiator at the legislative talks this year, discussed Wednesday about the horse racing industry. The business has "taken a beating since the early 1990s" when riverboat casinos began operating, he said.

Downstate legislators normally wouldn't support a gaming expansion bill for the Chicago region, Hassert said. But they might vote to support it if it helps the agriculture industry, which sells products to the horse tracks, he said.

"The racing industry is a huge business for agriculture in Illinois," he said. "You want to keep live racing in Illinois."

Madigan proposed the gaming expansion as legislative leaders try to resolve the funding crisis for the Chicago transit system. Without an infusion of state money for the system, transit users in Chicago face the risk of service cuts and fare hikes starting Jan. 20.