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player ready...You see a guy standing on a street corner holding a sign that says he’s homeless, broke and is willing to work, do anything, to earn some money.
So you stop and offer him a job. It’s legal. Could potentially net him enough money to maybe pay the rent for a few months. He turns away, shakes his head and says he’s going to wait for something better to come his way.
What would you think of that guy? Lazy. Con artist. A fellow just looking for handouts who doesn’t want to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty.
Sure. You would likely think all of that and worse.
So here we are in Illinois, billions of dollars short of the cash needed to balance next year’s budget, crying about the need to create jobs and attract new businesses.
Yet for two years, there have been bills sitting in Springfield that would potentially generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue, create thousands of jobs that pay a decent wage and our elected leaders haven’t voted on them.
I’m referring to legislation to expand casino gambling, and now some readers are going to turn away, shake their heads and say they want something better.
State Rep. Robert Rita, D-Blue Island, the croupier of casino gambling in Illinois, has announced public hearings on the next two Mondays in Chicago on bills he’s sponsoring to expand casino gambling.
Nearly identical legislation that Rita sponsored last year — to create a mega-casino in Chicago or five new casinos throughout the state, including one in the south suburbs — were never called for a vote in the House.
This year, with the state’s financial position worsening by the day and money from the temporary income tax increase fading away, Rita voiced that hope that new Gov. Bruce Rauner would be more open to the idea of adding casinos than his predecessor, Pat Quinn.
Cuts to government programs have been made, and more are on their way. Many of these programs help needy people (the mentally ill, the elderly, the disabled trying to live on their own and battered women). We all know about the state pension crisis, which has Illinois trying to cover a roughly $100 billion long-term debt.
But here’s the possibility of walking into what amounts to one of those cash cubes, where money blows all around, and our elected leaders seem to have no interest in grabbing any of the cash.
So Rita is holding hearings once again, trying to drum up support for his plan or at least let people explain why they think casino expansion is a bad idea in a state desperate for money.
The first House Executive Committee hearing in Chicago on Monday will feature testimony from industry experts on the state of gambling outside of Illinois. The second hearing on May 11 will focus on the tourism and economic benefits to Chicago from a large casino.
Both hearings are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the conference room on the sixth floor of the Bilandic Building, 160 N. LaSalle St., Chicago.
One objection I’ve heard repeatedly to expanding gambling in Illinois is that the market is saturated. In addition to 10 existing casinos, the state allows video gambling in taverns, restaurants and other places, including boutique shops that have brought video gambling to strip malls in the suburbs.
People say if the state allows more gambling, it will hurt the existing businesses that now make a profit from gambling, and that would be a very bad thing.
That’s like saying that because the profits of Home Depot and Menards would be hurt, Lowe’s should not be allowed to open any stores in the state. I bet Walgreens would have been mighty happy had the state decided that CVS stores shouldn’t be allowed to open around the corner.
And why hasn’t anyone put a stop to all those new burger joints opening up? I mean, McDonald’s and White Castle shouldn’t have to face competition from places like Five Guys, Wendy’s and Red Robin. The burger market is saturated.
Let the marketplace determine who should stay in business and who should close their doors because they can’t compete. For decades, the casino owners in this state had a license to print money because Illinois refused to expand casino gambling or allow video gambling outside of casinos.
I’m not going to cry any tears for the casino operators. The odds are in their favor and always will be.
Back to Rita’s legislation, and the new opportunities it could provide for Illinois.
First, there’s that giant Chicago casino. The city is a tourism Mecca, drawing millions of visitors every year for conventions, people who want to see the museums and theaters and out-of-towners who want to see an NFL football game, Major League Baseball or professional basketball and hockey. Just this week, hundreds of thousands of people came to Chicago because of the NFL draft.
Many of those people stay downtown and would like to gamble. Let them. I want people from California, New York, Florida and points in between generating tax revenue for this state. I want them paying the wages of blackjack dealers, cocktail waitresses, floor managers, parking lot attendants and security guards, who can then pay the state income tax and purchase goods and services from local businesses.
If no casino owner wants to operate in Chicago because the competition is too stiff, so be it. I don’t believe that would happen. I don’t think anyone does. A Chicago casino would be a gold mine, which is why Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants the city to own it and why the governor would likely want the state to own it.
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Plan B is to create five casinos — a smaller Chicago casino, another in the south suburbs (location undetermined) and three casinos in other parts of the state.
The south suburban casino is intended to siphon money away from the casinos in Northwest Indiana that have been making bundles of money catering to Chicago and Southland residents for years. Why does this state allow millions of dollars to flow into the Indiana state treasury that ought to be helping the people of Illinois? I don’t have a clue.
The casino owners in Joliet worry that a casino in, say Country Club Hills or Lansing, would eat into their profit margins. That might happen. But that’s the nature of competition.
What I can say is that despite the expansion of video gambling in Illinois, the casinos in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago continue to make money, although maybe not as much as they used to. Casino revenue in Illinois was down about $24 million last year, primarily due to expanding video gambling, according to the state Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA).
In face, it was a COGFA report on the impact of a Chicago casino, in part, that caused Rita to call his latest hearings. COGFA has lowered its estimate on how much revenue a Chicago casino would bring to the state per year from nearly $1 billion to around $300 million, Rita said, noting that he didn’t have the exact numbers in front of him at the time we talked.
COGFA representatives will be testifying at the hearing Monday to explain its estimates. The national horse racing industry and the Council of State Governments also will be represented to outline what other states are doing about expansion of the gambling industry or to curtail competition.
Rita said he has still not heard from Rauner or Emanuel about their positions on the gambling bills.
So, yes, he said, he’s hoping to stimulate interest, or at least discussion, on gambling expansion by holding the hearings in Chicago. Maybe Emanuel will even decide to testify.
Hey, the state is facing a financial catastrophe, people are talking about the Chicago Public Schools filing for bankruptcy, who needs more money? Why role the dice?
Don’t tell me how hard you have it and then turn your back when I offer you a chance to make some money. That’s all I’m saying.