Quinn: Gambling Expansion A "Distraction" From Larger Issues
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 10, 2012 1:48PM
Gov. Pat Quinn called the latest calls for expanding legalized gambling in Illinois a "distraction" from some of the larger issues facing the state.
Quinn, who has yet to sign legislation passed by the General Assembly last year into law that would significantly expand gambling in the state out of a concern that Illinois would turn into "the Las Vegas of the Midwest," responded to a rally earlier this week by local labor leaders in support of the legislation. Speaking after the opening of the Special Olympics spring games Tuesday, Quinn said lawmakers n Springfield need to keep their eyes on the prize and solve pension reform and funding Medicaid before he putting slot machines in airports and horse tracks.
Labor groups and politicians, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel, have lobbied for Quinn to sign the legislation because it would be a jobs creator. Emanuel has said the bill, which would give Chicago a casino, could be vital to repairing the city's crumbling infrastructure. (This was before the formation of the newly approved, privately financed Chicago Infrastructure Trust.)
The legislation, as passed by the General Assembly, would allow for the creation of four more casinos in Illinois and allow for aggressive expansion of slot machines and video gambling in airports and horse tracks. Quinn has been working with race track owners to reach a compromise for more slot machines but Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe called the bill a "pile of garbage" and that compromises to it passage should have happened before it was pushed through the House and Senate.