Massive Gambling Bill Passes in Illinois House, But Short of Veto Proof Majority

How did they vote?

SB 1849 — the massive gambling bill that adds 5 new casinos and creates 6 new racinos — now moves to the Illinois Senate. Please take a moment to tell your state senator to oppose this bill.

This afternoon, State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie) called his bill for a massive expansion of gambling in the state of Illinois.  Couching this anti-family legislation as “economic development,”  SB 1849 passed by a vote of 69 to 47 (with two voting present), but falls short of the 71 votes needed to over-ride a potential (and anticipated) veto by Governor Patrick Quinn.  SB 1849 is very similar to SB 744, which Gov. Quinn promised to veto last year.

Look at the official voting record of how your state representative voted:  click HERE to download it.

SB 1849 would legalize 5 new casinos and 6 new racinos — a city-owned casino in Chicago, land based casinos in Rockford, Danville, Park City, southern suburbs of Chicago, and video slot machines at the 6 Illinois racetrack.  The city-owned casino in Chicago would have 4,000 gambling positions, over twice as many as the other casinos.  The three racetrack casinos in Cook County would have 1,200 gambling positions — the same size as existing casinos! 

The research is clear — the presence of a gambling facility within 50 miles roughly doubles the prevalence of problem and pathological gamblers, according to a study commissioned by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. 

The State-Journal Register recently ran an Op/Ed in opposition to this legislation.  You can read it HERE.  (It is not often that we can agree with the editors of a major newspaper! )

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to contact your state senator and Governor Patrick Quinn today to ask them to oppose the passage of SB 1849.