Democrats offer conditional support of gambling expansion

SPRINGFIELD -- In the Democratic primary, both Pat Quinn, the current governor, and state Comptroller Dan Hynes offer conditional support for gambling expansion.

Hynes' budget plan calls for two or three new casino licenses, the auctioning of which he said could get the state $600 million.

In addition to more casinos, Hynes supports higher casino taxes, calling for a return to the 70 percent tax rate from the 50 percent rate. He also supports letting casinos that don't use their full legal allotment of slot machines and other gambling positions to lease them to other casinos, with the state collecting taxes on the trade.

"I support the limited expansion of gambling in Illinois because we need to look for every possible revenue source before resorting to increasing the income tax," said Hynes, a Chicago resident.

Quinn, who also lives in Chicago, cited his historic opposition to "large-scale expansion" but said Illinois must "deal with the reality of the current recession", which is how he explains his decision to support video gambling to pay for construction projects.

"I believe, in these extremely difficult times, the state must do everything in its power to create jobs and put our economy back on track," Quinn said.

Quinn said he "expressly demanded" the provisions allowing local governments or local citizens to say "no" to legalized video gambling in their communities.

He said he's willing to consider slot machines at horse tracks if it will help finance construction projects.

The Democratic primary is Feb. 2, though early voting has already begun.