Mayor Richard Daley vowed Tuesday to take a close look at possible state legislation permitting casino boat gambling in Chicago and Cook and Lake Counties before making a final decision on whether he supports the potential source of new revenue.
But Gov. Jim Edgar said he remains opposed to gambling boats on Lake Michigan.
”If it were on my desk, I`d veto it,” Edgar said. ”I think it`s premature. We don`t have casinos on the Mississippi River yet. My position has been we should keep what we have and see how it works before we talk about expansion.”
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Daley, who has expressed firm opposition to gambling on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, conceded Tuesday that new state legislation permitting such ventures in other parts of the state, including Joliet and Aurora, has put a new light on possible ventures in Chicago.
”I don`t know yet. I`ll have to look at all of the legislation,” Daley said.
The mayor said a key factor in his decision will be how well riverboat gambling does in other parts of the state, including the operations near Chicago.
”You have to see how well they market it in other places. You have to see if it`s profitable,” the mayor said during a City Hall news conference.
Edgar echoed Daley`s wait-and-see attitude, saying he wasn`t ruling out an expansion of gambling entirely, only until the state can determine how it is working at the initial sites.
”So I`m not in favor of expansion at this time,” Edgar said. ”First let`s see how it works on the Mississippi, how it works in Joliet and Aurora, before we talk about expanding it to other parts of the state.”
On Monday, State Rep. John Matijevich (D-North Chicago) said he plans to introduce legislation in October that would legalize gambling on Lake Michigan off Cook and Lake Counties.
Matijevich said his plan was buoyed by Daley`s softening of his position last week, when, under questioning, the mayor said he would consider allowing riverboats in the city.
”You have your ups and downs,” Daley said when asked about his view of riverboat gambling in Chicago and legalized gambling in general.
”Everybody has a lot of ideas about floating stuff,” Daley said of recent comments by some area officials that riverboat gambling is inevitable in the immediate Chicago area.
Last week House Minority Leader Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst) predicted that riverboat gambling would probably become a reality in Chicago in two or three years because of the proximity of such operations.
He also said the spread of riverboat gambling throughout Illinois probably would result in a renewed effort to legalize casino gambling.
Daley, who is constantly seeking new revenue sources, acknowledged that many of the customers for Joliet and Aurora riverboats probably will come from Chicago, just as Chicago-area travelers have helped make Iowa riverboat operations on the Mississippi more profitable than expected.
Riverboat gambling in Illinois is expected to begin on the Mississippi by the end of summer in Alton. A casino boat in Peoria on the Illinois River is scheduled to open in November. Operations in Aurora, Joliet and Channahon are planned for next year.
Matijevich said he wants Cook and Lake Counties to get into the Lake Michigan operations as soon as possible because of the possibility that Wisconsin might legalize lakeboat gambling, drawing even more of the Chicago- area customers to that state.
While Daley said gambling has its ”positives and negatives,” he refused to specifically outline what they were.
But the mayor`s comments that a main factor is the profitability of gambling ventures in other parts of the state indicate that a new source of city revenue could be a big positive.
Chicago already is the site of three off-track betting parlors, which have generated revenue and new jobs for the city.