Quinn: No Casinos Without Oversight, Pension Reform
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 21, 2013 5:40PM
With less than two weeks to go in the Illinois Legislature’s spring session, Gov. Pat Quinn has insisted he won’t sign off on any casino legislation without strict state oversight, and he asked the Illinois House and Senate to focus on more pressing matters, like the state’s grossly underfunded pensions.
Speaking to the Tribune editorial board and the City Club of Chicago, Quinn called the talk of adding five new casinos in Illinois, including one in Chicago, a “shiny object” that serves as a distraction over the dueling pension reform bills proposed by House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. Quinn has called for changes to the casino bill such as a ban on gambling lobbyists donating to political campaigns and ultimate oversight authority over a Chicago casino by the Illinois Gaming Board.
Control over a Chicago casino has been a point of contention between Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel for months. Emanuel has pledged that he would use revenues from a Chicago casino to help modernize public schools.
Quinn told the Sun-Times state oversight over a Chicago casino is non-negotiable.
"The gaming board has to be the final junction. That pattern has worked well. We already know ... that things don't go so well when the city is running things. Hired Trucks and Silver Shovels ... It's just common sense that the City should not be a regulatory authority on its gambling especially because this is the first municipally-owned casino in the country."
Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton responded to Quinn's Hired Trucks low blow by citing Illinois' recent history of imprisoned former governors. "There is also a not so proud history in Illinois where Governors have attempted to manipulate and influence the gaming board for corrupt purposes,” she said. “We cannot expose the taxpayers of Chicago to such risk.