Although the massive gambling bill passed the Illinois General Assembly in the waning days of the Spring Session, Governor Patrick Quinn has made it clear that he is not excited about the size of this gambling expansion. In a press conference on June 1, 2011, Quinn told reporters that he thought this gambling bill was “excessive.”

According to a Chicago Sun-Times article, Quinn also said “I’m beholden to the people of Illinois, not to legislators, not to mayors. The people of our state, all 13 million good and true, they’re the ones who I get up in the morning every day and say, ‘What’s best for them?’ ”

If that is true, it is hard to see how Gov. Quinn can ignore the plethora of research that strongly suggests gambling is a blight on the social well-being of society.

Gov. Quinn said he wants to “listen to the people” and will look at every part of the gambling bill before deciding what to do. He may veto part or all of this predatory gambling bill. Since he is listening, the faith community must speak up and encourage him to do the right thing.

Take ACTION: Contact Governor Quinn today to ask him to VETO this massive gambling bill (SB 744). Remind him that he campaigned against the expansion of gambling in Illinois. Respectfully tell him that creating losers is a terrible way for the state to gain a revenue source. If there is an outpouring of calls into his office, this could still get defeated.

You can also call the Governor’s office toll free at (800) 642-3112.

More ACTION: Please also pray that Gov. Quinn recognizes gambling as being harmful to the families of Illinois. Pray that Gov. Quinn understands how gambling leads to an increases in foreclosures, bankruptcies, unemployment, crime and other social ills. Pray that the pleas of local mayors and other greedy politicians will be unpersuasive. Pray that Gov. Quinn will do the right thing for the families and culture of Illinois.

Please take three minutes to respond to this call to action!

With just a few days left before their scheduled May 31st spring session adjournment, Illinois state lawmakers do not have much time left to pass a budget, pension and retiree health care reform, workers’ compensation reform, and create new legislative districts for 2012.

As if they didn’t have enough to do, one of the proposals making their priority list is a massive gambling bill (SB 744) that would create five new casinos in the Land of Lincoln, including one in Chicago. This legislative proposal would authorize additional casinos in Danville, Rockford, Park City, and somewhere in the South Suburbs.

Sponsored by State Senators Terry Link (D-Lincolnshire), Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) and State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie), this 409 page bill would also create “racinos” — video slot machines at the state’s six horse race tracks and at Chicago’s two airports.

Take ACTION: Contact your lawmakers to tell them “NO MORE GAMBLING — PERIOD.” Don’t delay in speaking out! With only days left in the spring session, this gambling bill will move fast!

Background
Adding to the 10 casinos we currently have in Illinois, residents of this state face the prospect of having 21 casinos or casino-like establishments in the near future, making Illinois a top contender for the most anti-family and predatory gambling state in the nation.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission suggests that problem gambling and addiction rates DOUBLE within a 50 mile radius of a casino. Think of all the people within a 50 mile radius of 11 new casinos or casino-like establishments, and how many new gambling addicts the state will help to produce with this foolish proposal. In Chicago there are 2.8 million people and in Cook County there are 5.2 million. There is an enormous potential for a great many new gambling addicts in Chicagoland alone! How is this good public policy?

While high-paid lobbyists for the predatory gambling industry promise our lawmakers to solve the state’s fiscal problems. Here are some important insights and facts that must be considered in this debate:

• Casino gambling causes up to $289 in social costs for every $46 of economic benefit. (Grinols, Earl L. Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits, Cambridge University Press, NY, NY, 2004)
• Professor John Kindt of the University of Illinois has studied the economic impact of gambling for over twenty years and concludes that for every $1 of revenue generated by gambling, the state must spend $3 on increased social services. (Tribal Proposals to Acquire Land-in-trust for Gaming Across States Lines: Hearing before the H. Comm. on Resources, 109th Cong. 4 [2005])
• Gambling is the fastest growing teen addiction, with the rate of pathological gambling twice that of adults — 4 percent to 8 percent for adolescents compared to 1 percent to 3 percent for adults. (Kindt, John, (Ed). US International Gambling Report, Hein and Co. 2008)
• The National Gambling Impact Study Commission strongly advised against the creation of racetrack casinos:
  

  Recommendation 3-12
  The Commission recommends that states should refuse to allow the introduction of casino-style gambling into pari-mutuel facilities for the primary purpose of saving a pari-mutuel facility that the market has determined no longer serves the community or for the purpose of competing with other forms of gambling.

• Increases in rape, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny and auto theft are found in areas where casinos are built. (Grinols, Earl L, David Mustard and Cynthia Hunt-Dilley. “Casinos, Crime and Community Costs” Social Science Research Network, June 2000)
• An Australian study concluded for every 80 slot machines, 2 million dollars is drained from the economy. (Grinols, Earl L.Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits, Cambridge University Press, NY, NY, 2004)
• Some studies concluded that gambling is as much a risk factor for domestic violence as alcohol abuse. (National Gambling Impact Study Commission, 1999)
• Gambling is the fastest growing and fourth leading cause of bankruptcy. (Kindt, John, (Ed). US International Gambling Report, Hein and Co. 2008)
• Suicide rates are 2 to 4 times greater in gambling counties than non-gambling counties. (Phillips, David P. Ward Welty and Marrisa Smith. “Elevated Suicide Levels Associated with Legalized Gambling” Dec. 1997)

Expanding legalized gambling creates a web of loss, anger and despair that impacts not only the gamblers, but their families, friends and communities. Expanded gambling is not the answer to the state’s fiscal problem, but will instead create pain and suffering for far too many families. Much of this will have to be absorbed by taxpayers as foreclosures, crimes, addictions, divorce, bankruptcies, and unemployment increase.

Springfield lawmakers apparently think you are not taxed enough and that predatory gambling is good for Illinoisans.

As you probably know by now, Illinois’ Democrat leaders — Governor Patrick Quinn, House SpeakerMichael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton — are proposing a plan to raise your income tax by 75 percent.

Their plan would increase the personal income tax rate by 2.25 percent (from 3 to 5.25 percent) for the next four years. They claim that two percentage points of this increase would be temporary. And despite Illinois’ anti-business reputation, their proposal would also increase the corporate tax rate by 4 percent (from 4.8 percent to 8.4 percent).

In addition to this proposed irresponsible tax increase, our lawmakers are seriously considering a massive expansion of gambling that would more than double the number of casinos in Illinois — all in an effort to feed the rapacious desires of big and growing government. Proponents claim that each proposal will raise billions of dollars in revenue for the state — $7.5 billion from taxes and $1 billion from additional gambling.

But that is not even enough to satisfy the beast. According to the Wall Street Journal, our political leaders are still hoping to borrow billions of dollars despite having the lowest U.S. state credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service.

Indeed, even as Illinois considers a tax increase, it is also considering borrowing $3.7 billion to make required pension contributions and an even larger “debt restructuring bond” to pay the state’s vendors who haven’t been paid in months, according to a person familiar with the matter.

ACTION:  Contact your legislators and ask them to vote for ‘NO’ to more gambling and ‘NO’ to new or additional taxes.

John Bambenek, a well known conservative activist from Champaign, points out:

[Springfield lawmakers] plan to increase your income tax by 75 percent and the corporate tax by 75 percent. You read that right, they will nearly double your income tax and nearly double the tax rate on businesses in Illinois. You can read more HERE at Crain’s Chicago Business.

You might think, “surely they will cut spending”. You’d be wrong. They plan to actually INCREASE spending with this plan and borrow billions on top of it. This is tax, borrow and spend at it’s absolute worst. The only ones who will make it under this plan are residents of Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri because companies have said they will leave this state with this kind of tax increase and take the jobs with them.

Lawmakers in Springfield refuse to live within the means of our current cash flow and refuse to cut the size of government. Instead they again turn to tax increases and expansion of gambling. Just how much is enough?

Increasing taxes, like expanding gambling, is counter-productive. It will adversely affect Illinois’ economy, hurt businesses and cause them to relocate out of state, and will ultimately increase the already high tax burden on families that remain in Illinois. These proposals are decidedly anti-family.

Illinois taxpayers should not continue to tolerate wasteful, bloated government.

Tell Governor Quinn and your state lawmakers to stop increasing the size of government. We do not have a tax problem — we have a spending problem!

Lame Duck legislative session resumes in Springfield…

Illinois state lawmakers are returning to Springfield for another 8 days to finish off the 96th General Assembly Session. Since this legislative session includes lame duck lawmakers, including retiring and defeated members, anything is possible.

One of the proposals making their priority list is a massive gambling bill (SB 737) that would create five new casinos in the Land of Lincoln, including one in Chicago. Sponsored by State Represenative Lou Lang (D-Skokie), this 350+ page bill would also create “racinos” — video slot machines at the state’s six horse race tracks.

In other words, adding to the 10 casinos we currently have in Illinois, residents of this state face the prospect of having 21 casino or casino-like establishments in the near future, making Illinois a top contender for the most anti-family and predatory gambling state in the nation.

Take ACTION: Don’t delay in speaking out! This and the other gambling bills are moving fast! Tell your lawmakers “NO MORE GAMBLING — PERIOD.”

The problems with gambling are not just with those who lose financially — that’s obvious — but the wider community also loses as gamblers engage in destructive behavior: they commit crimes, run up large debts, damage relationships with family and friends, and commit suicide at rates alarmingly higher than the rest of society.

Gambling is no economic panacea — even in Illinois’ big cities. It would actually add to the homeless problem, bring increases in crime, suicide, domestic abuse, and alcohol abuse while creating broken families and new addictions.

It cannot be overstated — the social costs of gambling far outweigh the perceived financial benefits.

This massive gambling bill must be stopped in the Illinois House. In the November Veto Session, the Illinois Senate passed this gambling expansion bill sponsored by State Senator Terry Link (D-Lake Bluff). If the bill does not pass in the House by noon on January 12th, state legislators will have to start from scratch by introducing this legislation again after the newly elected lawmakers are sworn in to office.

Contact your state lawmakers today. Please tell them “NO MORE GAMBLING — PERIOD.”

Read more:

Bet on casinos won’t pay off (The News Gazette)

Our Opinion: Nix illogical expansion of gambling (State Journal-Register)

Report says Vegas has world’s fifth-worst economy (Casino City Times)

SB 737 was amended in committee and passed in the Senate during the Veto Session. Sen. Terry Link, the sponsor of SB 737, told the Republicans who complained about inaction on the budget and employment that this bill would deal with both of those issues by generating a billion dollars a year in new state revenues and creating thousands of new jobs, according to Capitol Fax.

Adding 11 more casinos will not help horse racing, nor will it solve the budget and cash flow problems in the State of Illinois. It has taken over 10 years to approve and build the 10th casino license, which is scheduled to open in 2011. Remember the flawed legislation that quickly passed last year to legalize Video Gambling Act and Internet Lottery? These forms of gambling are not yet operational, with 75 communities and 4 counties “opting out” of video gambling.

Take ACTION:

1. Send a note or Christmas card to thank your Senator who voted NO on the massive expansion of gambling. (Click on the names below for contact information.)

2. Gov. Quinn told reporters he opposed “top-heavy” gaming legislation. Contact the governor to OPPOSE SB 737, a massive expansion of gambling. (Call 800-642-3112 or 312-814-2121 or e-mail by clicking HERE.)

3. Contact your State Representative in their District office Before January 3 to ask him/her to Vote NO on SB 737. (See Talking Points below.)

4. Share this Alert with your faith community and PRAY.

5. Forward to 10 others.

Pamela J. Althoff
Tim Bivins
J. Bradley Burzynski
James F. Clayborne, Jr.
Jacqueline Y. Collins
Gary G. Dahl
Dan Duffy
Linda Holmes
Dan Kotowski
Chris Lauzen
David Luechtefeld
James T. Meeks
John J. Millner
Matt Murphy
Michael Noland
Christine Radogno
Dale A. Righter
Dan Rutherford
Ronald Sandack
A. J. Wilhelmi

Roll Call: Click HERE.

Talking Points for Letter to the Editor and calls Gov. Quinn and State Representatives

SB 737 is a massive expansion of gambling that includes:

• A City owned land-casino in Chicago with 4,000 gambling positions.
• Legalizes 4 additional casinos–Rockford, Danville, Park City, and South Suburbs.
• Transforms 6 racetracks into land-based casinos with slots/video gambling.
• Creates the Chicago Casino Development Authority with the ability to use eminent domain, finance public bonds, exempt from real estate taxes, and less control from the Gaming Board.
• Pre-empts Home Rule in Arlington Heights and Chicago.
• Requires one Illinois Gaming Board member to have 5 years of casino management experience.
• Racetracks in Cook County could relocate up to 3 miles to build electronic gambling facility.

Contact your state lawmakers today.  Please tell them “NO MORE GAMBLING — PERIOD.”