A legislative gamble that must lose
Just when you think you've heard it all, some lawmakers in Springfield come up with another doozy.
Are you ready for this? Some pro-gambling legislators are pushing a plan to either charge a fee or withhold construction from communities that reject video gambling for bars and restaurants.
In the Illinois House, suburban Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano, an Elmwood Park Republican whose district includes Rosemont, and Rep. Dan Reitz, a Sparta Democrat, are sponsoring a plan to charge governments that reject video gambling a fee equal to the maximum amount of tax dollars that would have been generated for the state if those governments had allowed it. Saviano and Reitz's proposal would withhold state funds from local governments that don't pay up.
In the Illinois Senate, Sen. Mike Jacobs, an East Moline Democrat, has a plan to withhold construction funded by video gambling from the governments that didn't allow such gambling.
Incredible. We remind them that legislators approved the plan to fund construction projects by authorizing video gambling last year with little notice and almost no public discussion. We remind them that the law specifically allowed local governments the option of rejecting poker machines if they chose. And now that more than 40 mostly suburban communities and counties have done just that, these lawmakers are trying to make them pay anyway.
This is outrageous. Outrageous. It is extortion.
The state does need to spend money fixing its infrastructure. We have long supported that cause and paying various taxes and fees to fund it. But we also have long expressed reservations about this last-minute move to fund it with proceeds from poker machines in every bar. People all over northern Illinois now have debated this topic and their local representatives have voted. Those votes must stand, as the law provided. Just last week in East Dundee, village leaders put the question to voters and 61 percent of them rejected video poker machines.
We encouraged local governments to exercise the right given to them by Gov. Pat Quinn and this Legislature to debate the plan and opt in or out. Many debated. Many opted out, as was their right. To dismiss and disregard those actions now and tax the communities anyway is ridiculous.
This Legislature set up this game. It cannot be allowed now to change the rules in the middle of its own ill-conceived game of chance.
It's time to let these legislators hear from us. Details of the bills can be found at ilga.gov. Saviano and Reitz's bill is HB5313. Saviano can be reached at (708) 453-7547 or (217) 782-3374 or at skip@skipsaviano.com. Reitz can be reached at (618) 443-5757 or (217) 782-1018 or at repreitz@egyptian.net. Jacobs' bill is SB3812. He can be reached at (309) 797-0001 or (217) 782-5957 or senatorjacobs@sbcglobal.net.