Polls in Illinois Oppose Slot Expansion
Des Plaines 3rd Ward Alderman Matt Bogusz urged the city council Monday night to strongly oppose video gambling machines in town because they would hurt the city’s planned casino. The new video poker legislation, approved by the Illinois House and Senate but not yet signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn, could put more than 45,000 such devices in establishments across the state. This legislation would allow any type of establishment with a liquor license to allow video gambling. Once legislation passes, municipalities would still have the right to ban them, however. “‘We need to be on the forefront of opposing gaming expansion,” Bogusz said.
The problem with the expansion is that it would cut into slots revenue for casinos in the state. There is a lot of revenue to be had in states, but there is a limited amount of revenue. Everyone wants a piece of the gambling pie these days and as many states move towards regulation and legalization of the hobby, the rules are still sketchy. It’s the first time that gambling will be used to fund state budgets and overcome the states’ deficits. No one knows how exactly it will flesh out or how everyone will be made happy by bringing gambling into the states. It is the first time each state is tampering with new gaming laws and legislators are debating how the laws should read. The only real law so far is the UIGEA. That is a law that targeted financial institutions. It focused on hampering banks from handling transactions to deposit or withdraw money if they were related to gambling online. The biggest problem states had was that due to the lack of ways for people to gamble, sent them to offshore gambling operators. Though the state legislators initially thought that the UIGEA, or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, of 2006 would thwart gambling, all it did was send gamblers out of the country…along with millions of dollars.
Now, states learned their lessons and want to bring in gambling. The problem lies in how to regulate the hobby for the purpose of maximizing revenue. That is what legislators are tasked with doing now as 2010 begins. They want to create a law that unlike the UIGEA, efficiently regulates gambling and opens the door for states to reap the rewards.
