Legalizing high potency marijuana, more gambling, LGBT history in schools and taking aim at Illinois’ Parental Notification of Abortion law. Incoming Governor J.B. Pritzker and his fellow Democrats in the General Assembly will have the votes to make their agenda happen. Yet, some Republican leaders say Conservatives should be quiet on social issues.
Proposal includes casinos for Chicago, Rockford, Danville, Lake County,
South Suburbs of Chicago, Williamson County, plus video slot machines galore.
On February 28th, the Illinois Senate passed SB 7 – a massive gambling bill – by a vote of 31-26. Yet for lawmakers with an insatiable hunger for revenue at the expense of well-documented social costs, it wasn’t enough.
Yesterday, the Illinois Senate passed an amended version of SB 7 to exploit even more citizens, by a vote of 33-24 with 1 voting present. (See roll call chart below.)
This oppressive and myopic legislation is sponsored by Illinois Senators Terry Link (D-Gurnee), Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) and Donne Trotter (D-Chicago). The passage of this bill demonstrates that our state lawmakers are not serious about solving the fiscal problems of the state — specifically the wasteful spending and bloat that is Illinois government. Instead, a majority of politicians in the Illinois Senate gave their stamp of approval to an unstable and unfair source of “revenue,” while ignoring the many social costs that come with a vice like gambling.
According to Illinois Churches in Action, this legislation will give special perks to the gambling industry while soaking hard working families:
SB 7 includes a massive casino for Chicago, slots machines at Chicago Airports, additional land-based casinos for Rockford, Danville, Lake County, South Suburbs of Chicago, Williamson County Winery, and at 4 racetracks.
SB 7 allows progressive jackpots at casinos and video gambling establishments and expands video gambling by doubling the maximum bet and more than doubling the jackpot.
The bill lowers taxes on slot machines and table games and gives tax breaks to racetracks and casinos. SB 7 will not solve the budget problem, but it will increase addiction and problem gambling.
Take ACTION: Click HERE to send your state representative an email or a fax to tell them “NO MORE GAMBLING — PERIOD.” Don’t delay in speaking out. With only 2 weeks left before state lawmakers adjourn for the summer, this gambling bill may move fast.
Background
In addition to the 10 casinos Illinois currently has, residents face the prospect of an additional 6 casinos (for a total of 16), making Illinois a top contender for the most anti-family and predatory gambling state in the nation. If we consider all the video slot machines currently in the state, plus all the Lottery fleecing “games,” we are well underway to securing the title of being the top “swindle state” in America.
Think about the devastation a casino would bring to the poorest families in Chicago. Impoverished working poor would be encouraged by this foolish policy to seek out the elusive “pot of gold” — and the “key” to happiness by gambling away their meager resources. To make matters worse, they would have easy access to a Chicago casino via public transportation.
Moreover, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimated that approximately 15 million U.S. citizens have a gambling problem and/or are pathological gambling addicts. Their research also shows that addiction rates double within 50 miles of a casino. Think of all the people within a 50-mile radius of 15 casinos and how many new gambling addicts the state will help produce with this foolish proposal. There is enormous potential for many new gambling addicts in Chicago-land alone. How is this good public policy?
The American Psychiatric Association says that symptoms of pathological gambling include the following: lying about the amount of time or money spent gambling, needing to borrow money to get by due to gambling losses, gambling larger amounts of money to try to win back previous losses, and committing crimes to obtain money to gamble.
Researchers believe that crimes committed by compulsive gamblers are often under-reported. Some of these crimes include writing bad checks, check forgery, fraud, and embezzlement.
Some gamblers turn to street crime. The National Institute of Justice reported that 30 percent of pathological gamblers who were arrested in Las Vegas and Des Moines admitted that they had committed a robbery within the past year. About 13 percent of them admitted they had assaulted someone to get money.
Although some people win at the casinos, winning consistently is rare. And those people who believe they will win their money back after a losing streak are deluding themselves. The truth is one in five people addicted to gambling will file for bankruptcy. Casinos would not be able to stay in business if people won more than they lost.
Studies also show that both divorce and suicide rates are higher for pathological gamblers than non-gamblers. Gamblers Anonymous surveyed approximately 400 members and found that two-thirds had thought of suicide, 77 percent had wanted to die, and 47 percent had a definite plan to kill themselves.
Economics professor, Earl Grinols, says in his book, Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits, the annual cost of one addicted gambler to society is $10,330. Grinols argues that the costs of casino-derived revenues exceed the benefits by a factor of more than 3 to 1.
It is clear, the social costs of gambling far outweigh any perceived benefits.
How did they vote?
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How did they vote?
Yesterday, the Illinois Senate put two amendments on SB 7 – a massive gambling bill – and then ignored protocol by calling the bill for a vote without a committee hearing. This proposal authorizes casinos in Chicago, Rockford, Danville, Lake County, south suburbs of Chicago, Williamson County and 4 casinos at racetracks. It is important to note that this legislation would legalize a city-owned casino for Chicago with a perpetual license that cannot be revoked or suspended. No other city in the United States owns a casino.
The amendment that passed yesterday:
Includes slots and video gambling machines at the Chicago Airports.
Reduces live horse racing.
Removes money going to County Fairs and Universities for equine research.
Allows racetracks to keep their tax credit for 5 more years after electronic gambling begins.
Adds progressive slot machine jackpots for casinos AND video gambling with No cap.
Increases number of gambling positions from 1,200 to 2,000 at casinos.
Gives tax breaks for 5 years for current casinos for construction of at least $15 million.
Expands video gambling – DOUBLES amount per bet, increases jackpots from $500 to $1,199, with no limit on cash awards for progressive jackpots.
SB 7 passed with 31 Yes votes and 26 No votes. Click HERE to see how your state senator voted, or look at the chart below. The sponsors of this legislation include: State Senators Terry Link (D-Gurnee), Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) and Donne Trotter (D-Chicago).
Twelve bills are linked together in the “grand bargain.” SB 7 will not take effect UNLESS all 12 bills pass–Senate Bills 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 16. To date, Illinois Senators have passed Senate bills 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Take ACTION: Click HERE to send an email or a fax to your state senator and state representative today to ask them to stop exploiting the citizens of Illinois through gambling expansion. The state is already saturated with gambling and it has proven to be an unstable (and immoral) source of revenue. Ask them to oppose the passage of SB 7.
Click HERE to learn more about ILCAAAP.
The Illinois State Senate Gaming Committee recently heard testimony on SB 7, the massive gambling expansion bill. Thank you to those who signed witness slips. There were 35 opponents and 4 proponents.
There were many questions from members of the committee asking sponsor Illinois Sen. Terry Link (D-Gurnee) to make changes to the bill. The Senate moved SB 7 to third reading so it can be called for a vote at anytime now.
Illinois Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) filed Senate Amendment 2 to SB 7 to include slot machines at Chicago airports for passengers who at least 21 years of age and members of a private club.
The General Assembly adjourned and won’t be back in session again until Feb. 7th for the Illinois Senate and Feb. 8th for the Illinois House. Illinois Senate minority leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) told state senators not to be swayed by their constituents if they are against passing the “grand bargain” budget bills. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) told state senators to be prepared to vote on the bills when they come back in February.
Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to our Illinois state lawmakers about this massive expansion proposal. Gambling is an unstable source of revenue. SB 7 will lead to more addiction, financial ruin, broken families, increased costs for the state, and will not solve the budget problem.
Please share this alert with your faith community and ask them to CALL and PRAY.
Talking points to oppose SB 7
For more information about gambling or other addictive problems, please visit Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems.
Written by John Piper
Americans now spend more than $70 billion dollars annually on lotteries. That’s more than the combined spending on books, video games, and movie and sporting-event tickets. Lotteries are legal in 43 states.
“That’s more than $230 for every man, woman, and child in those states — or $300 for each adult,” reports The Atlantic.
I agree with the report that this is a great shame on our nation. From time to time, the Powerball or Mega Millions lotteries rise to unusually high numbers and get fresh attention in the news.
Here are seven reasons, among others, I have often rehearsed to make the case that you should not gamble with your money in this way.
“Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. . . . and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:9–10).
Managers don’t gamble with their Master’s money. All you have belongs to God. All of it. Faithful trustees may not gamble with a trust fund. They have no right. The parable of the talents says Jesus will take account of how we handled his money. They went and worked (Matthew 25:16–17). That is how we seek to provide for ourselves (1 Corinthians 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:11;Ephesians 4:28).
The odds of winning are nearly 176 million-to-one. You take real money and buy with it a chance. That chance is so infinitesimally small that the dollar is virtually lost. 175,999,999 times. The smaller amounts paid out more often are like a fog to keep you from seeing what is happening.
According to the International Business Times, lotteries are “just another form of gambling (without any of the glamour and glitz of Las Vegas, of course). The ‘house’ controls the action, the players will all eventually lose.”
The lottery supports and encourages “yet another corrosive addiction that preys upon the greed and hopeless dreams of those trapped in poverty. . . . The Consumerist suggested that poor people in the U.S. — those earning $13,000 or less — spend an astounding 9 percent of their income on lottery tickets. . . making this ‘harmless’ game a ‘deeply regressive tax’” (ibid).
A survey by Opinion Research Corporation for the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning Association revealed that one-fifth (21 percent) of people surveyed thought the lottery was a practical way to accumulate wealth. We are teaching people to be fools.
If the $500 a year that on average all American households throw away on the lottery were invested in an index fund each year for 20 years, each family would have $24,000. Not maybe. Really. And the taxes on these earnings would not only support government services, but would be built on sound and sustainable habits of economic life.
A government that raises money by encouraging and exploiting the weaknesses of its citizens escapes that democratic mechanism of accountability. As important, state-sponsored gambling undercuts the civic virtue upon which democratic governance depends. (First Things, Sept., 1991, 12)
So, if you win, don’t give from your lottery winnings to our ministry. Christ does not build his church on the backs of the poor. Pray that Christ’s people will be so satisfied in him that they will be freed from the greed that makes us crave to get rich.
John Piper was assisted by Desiring God staff in gathering the statistics for this article, which was originally published at DesiringGod.org.
John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including A Peculiar Glory.
State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) has sponsored SB 3144, a bill to double the number of video gambling machines at truck stops. This would legalize up to 10 video slot machines at truck stops.
SB 3144 was called for a vote last week, but fell 3 votes short of passing. The bill has been put on “postpone consideration,” which means it can come up for another vote in the near future.
Take ACTION: Click HERE to contact your state senator to urge them to stop expanding predatory gambling in Illinois.
Gamblers are losing millions of dollars in video gambling machines at truck stops in Illinois. The sponsor predicted the State could get an additional $6 to $7 million a year in revenue which means that Illinois residents and truckers would have to LOSE $24 – $28 Million more a year! The cost is too high.
House Executive Committee bills – HB 1536 and HB 2311 both expand video gambling by legalizing the machines at Social Clubs. This would allow thousands of additional establishments to have 5 video gambling machines each. One of the arguments gambling interests gave for legalizing video gambling was to limit the number of gambling machines in Illinois! http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=1186&GA=98
HB 1570 removes the requirement that video gambling not be within 1,000 feet of an Off Track Betting Parlor and would legalize video gambling at OTB parlors. There are currently 26 OTB parlors operating in Illinois, but an additional 11 licenses could be issued. If the machines are legalized at the OTB parlors, the racetracks will put even more pressure on the Legislature to legalize slots and video gambling machines at the tracks.
Senate Executive Committee bills – SB 1738 legalizes electronic cards or vouchers to be used instead of cash in video gambling machines. SB 1738 includes language to legalize video gambling in OTB parlors and stop the Gaming Board from disclosing information about video gambling establishments. http://www.ilga.gov/senate/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=1206
SB 1870 is an expansion of charitable gambling to allow “player-backed games” that don’t require bonding. SB 1870 provides that a municipality may provide the same premises for conducting charitable game nights EVERY Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, (156 games nights rather than 16 nights a year. A consultant hired by the licensed organization may attend the event and provide advice and on-site training!
House State Government Admin – HB1306 seeks to make video gambling information about individual establishments that is now public, confidential–not available through a FOIA request and hidden from public view. Why would video gambling interests want to hide the amount of money that is lost in each establishment? http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=1198&GA=98
Senate Revenue Committee – SB 1541 creates a new Lottery Scratch-Off ticket for local charities with budgets under $500,000 that focus on youth development. The bill creates a special fund for the Attorney General to use to award the grants. Voters approved the Lottery to fund education! http://www.ilga.gov/senate/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=1212
For Immediate Action
1. Click on the links above to see if your Legislators serve on these committees. Call or e-mail your State Representative http://www.ilga.gov/house/ and State Senator http://www.ilga.gov/senate/ to ask them to Vote NO on the above gambling expansion bills.
2. PRAY and ask your faith community to pray for the Legislators and the Governor.
3. Forward to 10 others.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with his finger ever on the pulse of “progressives”—I mean, Chicagoans—has discerned that two of the top three problems facing the city are the absence of casinos and legalized “same-sex marriage.”
The city’s failing schools, gang activity, murder rate, debt, unemployment, poverty, family breakdown, child abuse, and drug use pale in significance when compared to the absence of casinos. Perhaps Mayor Emanuel sees casinos as the solution to all those problems.
One of his top priorities is bringing casinos to the city, casinos that will disproportionately harm those of lesser incomes because they have less financial padding to sustain the ineluctable losses on which predatory casinos rely.
Judging from his letter to the Chicago Sun Times, his de facto top priority is same-sex marriage, which will further erode the institution of marriage, the erosion of which has already disproportionately harmed the black community.
But why should these inconvenient truths bother Emanuel when he’s got fat cat casino-backers and wealthy homosexuals in his corner.
Emanuel in a display of “progressive” ignorance and uncharacteristic mushiness claimed that “gays and lesbians are still denied one essential freedom: the right to make a lifelong commitment to the person they love.” Say what?
Every unmarried person of major age is free to marry as long as he or she is seeking to marry one person of the opposite sex who is not closely related by blood. Homosexuals are not denied the right to marry. They choose not to participate in this sexually complementary institution.
Homosexuals are simply not permitted to unilaterally jettison the central defining feature of legally sanctioned marriage: sexual complementarity.
Similarly, polyamorists may not unilaterally jettison the requirement regarding numbers of partners, and those in love with their siblings or parents may not unilaterally jettison the requirement pertaining to close blood kinship.
Moreover, homosexuals are not denied the right to make a lifelong commitment. Homosexuals may, indeed, love, have sex with, set up households with, and commit for life to any person they wish.
Mayor Emanuel seems to have adopted the view that marriage is an institution centrally or solely concerned with the loving feelings of those involved. But if that’s the case, if marriage is solely about love and has no intrinsic connection to procreation, then why does the government limit it to two people? And if marriage is solely about love, why not permit two loving brothers to marry?
If marriage were centrally or solely about the recognition of love, there would be no reason for the government to be involved. The government has no vested interest in “recognizing” subjective feelings. The government has a vested interest in the objective connection of sexually complementary coupling to procreation.
The government is in the marriage business because a two-person, sexually complementary union is how children are produced, and the government has a vested interest in recognizing, regulating, and promoting the type of relationship that can produce children—whether or not any particular couple has children.
In describing Chicago’s diversity, Mayor Emanuel paired race and “sexual orientation” revealing that he’s also bought into the intellectually vacuous comparison of race to homosexuality, which is the flawed analogy upon which the entire homosexuality-affirming house of cards is built. Whereas race is 100 percent heritable, in all cases immutable, and has no behavioral implications whatsoever, homosexuality is constituted by subjective feelings, volitional sexual acts that are legitimate objects of moral assessment, and is not 100 percent heritable.
Despite exploiting the language of the civil rights movement by trumpeting his defense of “equality,” Emanuel is not advocating for equality. He’s advocating for the unilateral redefinition of marriage by homosexuals to serve their desires.
Emanuel, envisioning himself as the Martin Luther King Jr. of the homosexual movement, proclaims “Marriage equality is the next step in our nation’s march forward. Illinois must lead the way.” Emanuel would do well to remember these words of Martin Luther King Jr.:
“How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law….An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”
Illinois has certainly proved itself capable of leading the way, leading the way to fiscal insolvency, educational malpractice, and incomprehensible murder rates. Why not lead the way to the destruction of real marriage by pretend marriage.
It’s not enough just to be concerned!
We need you to take action too!
Late last month we alerted you to the threat of yet another push to expand predatory gambling in the state of Illinois. In today’s Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Michael Sneed reports that Governor Patrick Quinn “had a ‘nice’ chat recently with Arlington Racetrack impresario Dick Duchossois” at the Kentucky Derby. The suggestion is that progress was made in negotiating for a Chicago casino and financial help for the failing horse racing industry.
Confirming that rumor, IFI lobbyists tell us that a new gambling expansion proposal is imminent.
Gov. Quinn has consistently said that he’s opposed to video slot machines at tracks. But State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie), perhaps the state’s leading proponent for gambling expansion, continues to push this anti-family, anti-business agenda. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is also lobbying for a downtown casino, promising to invest the city’s ill-gotten booty into investment projects including school renovations and other capital projects.
With two weeks to go in the Spring Session of the Illinois General Assembly, our state lawmakers need to hear from their constituents. Make no mistake, your state representative and state senator are hearing from dozens of pro-gambling lobbyists, who are putting on a full court press in these final days of the Session. Every lawmaker needs to hear from dozens and dozens of people back home in their districts.
Take ACTION: Click HERE to send an email or a fax to both state lawmakers. Tell them to stop playing games with gambling expansion and to focus on the hard work the people of Illinois sent them to Springfield to tackle: Pension and Medicaid Reform.
Your Action Makes a Difference!
The “new” gambling bill, which wasn’t that much different from the one passed by the Illinois General Assembly in May, failed in the Illinois House this evening by a vote of 58 to 53 with 3 voting present. This bill received fewer “yes” votes than did the original version which garnered 65 votes.
The champion of this legislation, State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie), claimed during floor debate that this newest version was better than the version they passed on May 30th. Apparently, his colleagues disagreed with him.
But there is no time to relax. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Rep. Lang is working to find two more votes to gain the necessary 60 to pass the bill on Thursday.
Take ACTION: Click HERE to send your state lawmakers an email or a fax to tell them “NO MORE GAMBLING — PERIOD.” Don’t delay in speaking out!
Background
It was frustrating to hear some conservative lawmakers defend their pro-gambling vote by saying that this bill would bring jobs to their districts and to the state of Illinois. If they had taken the time to read the research we provided them on this topic, they would have learned that the social costs associated with gambling include high rates of job loss, divorce, bankruptcy, and foreclosure. (Source)
Other conservative lawmakers, like Representative Raymond Poe (R-Springfield) defended their votes by suggesting that they were supporting the agricultural industry. They voted for the bill because it would have re-allocated casino money to the horse industry as well as agriculture programs, such as 4-H, soil and water conservation and FFA.
Why are conservative lawmakers concerned with propping up the horse racing industry? Haven’t they learned anything from the “too big to fail” philosophy that infected our federal lawmakers over the past few years? Have they forgotten the conservative principle of free market?
If the horse racing industry is failing, why are we trying to bail them out — and at the expense of the well-being of the families of our state, no less?
Although it is important for lawmakers to be politically savvy and to work for the special interests in their respective districts, they should not allow special interests to trump the interests of the families they represent.
And that is why it is so important that you take a few minutes to call or email your lawmakers on these important public policy issues. They need to be reminded just who they serve.
Read more:
Illinois gambling regulator calls new casino plan ‘pile of junk’ (Chicago Tribune)
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to help us as we work to defend and support the families of Illinois?
Illinois lawmakers are back in Springfield for round two of the Fall Veto Session, which is scheduled to run through November 10th.
This morning, the Illinois House Executive Committee voted to pass a new gambling bill by a vote of 8-2. Voting against this bill in committee were Representatives Eddie Lee Jackson (D-East St. Louis) and Mike Tryon (R-Cyrstal Lake)
The new bill, SB 1849, introduced by State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie), would bring five new casinos to Illinois. The proposed locations of these casinos are Chicago, Rockford, Danville, Park City and somewhere in the south suburbs of Chicago. The current 10 casinos would also expand their gambling capacities from 1,200 to 1,600 gambling positions, and video slot machines would be authorized at the six existing racetracks.
SB 1849 contains many of the provisions that were included in SB 744 — the bill Gov. Patrick Quinn said went too far. Slot machines at Chicago airports and the state fairgrounds are not included in this newest predatory gambling bill.
The Chicago Tribune reports that this legislation would more than double gambling in the state: “Lang’s gambling expansion would increase the number of gambling positions in Illinois from 12,000 to about 32,000.”
Take ACTION: Click HERE to send your state lawmakers an email or a fax to tell them “NO MORE GAMBLING — PERIOD.” Don’t delay in speaking out. With only 2 days left in the Veto Session, this gambling bill will move fast.
Background
In addition to the 10 casinos Illinois currently has, residents face the prospect of an additional 15 casinos, making Illinois a top contender for the most anti-family and predatory gambling state in the nation.
Supporters of the bill say this gambling expansion will bring in jobs, but at what cost to the citizens of Illinois? While we do need jobs, what else does gambling bring with it?
The National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimated that approximately 15 million U.S. citizens have a gambling problem and/or are pathological gambling addicts. Their research also shows that addiction rates double within 50 miles of a casino. Think of all the people within a 50-mile radius of 15 casinos and how many new gambling addicts the state will help produce with this foolish proposal. There is enormous potential for many new gambling addicts in Chicagoland alone. How is this good public policy?
The American Psychiatric Association says that symptoms of pathological gambling include the following: lying about the amount of time or money spent gambling, needing to borrow money to get by due to gambling losses, gambling larger amounts of money to try to win back previous losses, and committing crimes to obtain money to gamble.
Researchers believe that crimes committed by compulsive gamblers are often underreported. Some of these crimes include writing bad checks, check forgery, fraud, and embezzlement.
Some gamblers turn to street crime. The National Institute of Justice reported that 30 percent of pathological gamblers who were arrested in Las Vegas and Des Moines admitted that they had committed a robbery within the past year. About 13 percent of them admitted they had assaulted someone to get money.
Although some people win at the casinos, winning consistently is rare. And those people who believe they will win their money back after a losing streak are deluding themselves. The truth is one in five people addicted to gambling will file for bankruptcy. Casinos would not be able to stay in business if people won more than they lost.
Studies also show that both divorce and suicide rates are higher for pathological gamblers than non-gamblers. Gamblers Anonymous surveyed approximately 400 members and found that two-thirds had thought of suicide, 77 percent had wanted to die, and 47 percent had a definite plan to kill themselves.
Economics professor, Earl Grinols, says in his book, Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits, the annual cost of one addicted gambler to society is $10,330. Grinols argues that the costs of casino-derived revenues exceed the benefits by a factor of more than 3 to 1.
It is clear that in the long run gambling will harm Illinois.
Click HERE TO SUPPORT Illinois Family Institute.
We need your financial support!
Would you please consider making a generous donation right now
to help us as we work to defend and support the families of Illinois?
The Illinois Family Institute has sent a letter to Governor Quinn, with more than 200 signatures of Illinois pastors. The letter implores the governor to veto the massive gambling bill passed by the Illinois General Assembly during the closing days of the Spring Session — Senate Bill 744.
The Chicago Crime Commission warned to expect more scandal and corruption that this expansion of gambling will surely bring.
“It greatly concerns us that gambling’s presence is growing rapidly in Illinois . It is already the fourth leading cause of bankruptcy and the fastest growing teen addiction,” said David E. Smith, Executive Director of Illinois Family Institute. “The Commission’s observation is consistent with the fact that crime is already higher in towns that play host to casinos. Gambling, it can be argued, is the lifeblood of organized crime.
“Moreover, it is morally indefensible for the State to approve, license and promote an industry that thrives on the exploitation of the citizens it is constituted to serve,” said Smith. “Creating thousands of citizen-losers to create a revenue stream is terrible public policy.”
Gambling addiction is linked to bankruptcy, home foreclosure, depression, and white-collar crime, all of which lead to family stress and can lead to domestic violence, divorce, and suicide. Playing these kinds of odds against constituents is not good public policy.
Click HERE for more information about Senate Bill 744 and how to contact Illinois legislators.
To book David Smith for an interview, contact Deborah Hamilton at (215) 815-7716 or (610) 584-1096.
By Steve Scherrer, Rockford Pro-Family Activist
True leadership requires individuals who have a clear vision on how to build a better future for their constituents. Our local political class, business leadership and newspaper, in their passionate pursuit of a Rockford casino, all seem mesmerized by the allure of a quick fix to this area’s economic problems. The arguments the pro-casino advocates are putting forward are in some cases ridiculous.
Chuck Sweeny’s column June 26 indicates he thinks that a 401(k) and putting money in a slot machine represent a similar investment. I have the image in my mind of financial advisers all over the Rockford area falling out of their chairs when they read that line.
He struggles to see a distinction between church bingo and a for-profit casino. His conclusion is that opposition is only coming from the far left and the far right. Chuck, that’s where you find political activism. What it really shows is that opposition crosses normal partisan boundaries with a multitude of people in the middle who do not want the casino to go forward.
Last but not least, he states the tired old argument that Rockford has to build a casino because Beloit has talked about building its own. The Beloit casino project has been dead in the water for years. If Rockford builds the casino, it vastly increases the probability that Beloit will feel that plans for its mega casino would have to move forward. A bigger, more attractive Beloit casino could turn Rockford’s casino into just another white elephant.
The newspaper’s July 3 editorial proudly claims that 1,105 people have signed the support petition as of Friday, July 1. In reality that’s a surprisingly low number of supporters for this project, considering the promise of new jobs the casino advocates are offering to gain support for their project and the aggressive promotion of the casino that’s taking place.
Here’s a question for John Groh, CEO of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Janyce Fadden, CEO of the Rockford Area Economic Development Council, and Einar Forsman, CEO of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce:
In your June 26 column you make the presumptuous claim that you are speaking on the behalf of more than 1,500 local businesses and their 60,000 employees. When enormous amounts of their cash flow start to be redirected from local merchants to the casino’s slot machines and gambling tables, how will you explain to them that your advocacy for the Rockford casino was in their best interests? It appears that you are more interested in supporting the powerful gambling lobby than your own constituents.
Our local political leadership represented by Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey, state Sen. Dave Syverson and Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen sadly are all committed to this project. Their collective dream for the future of Rockford is to turn the city into a gambling mecca. They appear to have no other answer for the economic difficulties we face here. Their professional and personal reputations are on the line. I’m not sure they fully understand the extent of the damage they are doing to their reputations in the eyes of the public.
Good bedtime reading for this group is the National Gambling Impact Study Commission’s report. The social costs and inevitable cultural pathologies that are well documented in the report will be with us long after the wages have been earned and spent by the trades who would build the casino. These leaders ignore these facts at their own risk.
These community leaders would better serve our community if they stopped their cheerleading for the casino and thought twice about rushing to push Rockford over the cliff. The character of this community would be damaged and changed forever.
Steve Scherrer is a Roscoe resident.
Aaron Jaffe, chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, appeared on WTTW Chicago Tonight this week. Please watch this informative video: July 20, 2011 – Illinois Gaming Chair | Chicago Tonight | PBS Video
Steve Chapman’s recent column seems to dismiss critics who are concerned about the impact of the massive expansion of gambling and the legalization of video gambling statewide. The results of a natural experiment in South Dakota, suggest that the accessibility and availability of video gambling machines is an important factor in the number of people being adversely impacted by gambling.
The National Gambling Impact Study Commission Final Report found the presence of a gambling facility within 50 miles roughly doubles the prevalence of problem and pathological gamblers.
The State of Iowa commissioned a prevalence study as to the rate of pathological gambling prior to the beginning of riverboat gambling an five years after the casinos were operational. During that time, the rate of lifetime pathological gambling increased 200 percent (from 1.7% to 5.4%).
In a Chicago Tribune article about the Rivers Casino, the marketing director noted that while rewards card members make up 20% of casino clientele, they generate 80% of the revenue. In Pennsylvania local people are going to racetrack casinos 3-5 times a week to gamble on the slot machines.
A casino is not like any other business. Illinois casinos are required to have State Police and Illinois Gaming Board staff on hand to ensure against money laundering, cheating, and crime. How many other businesses are operated in this fashion?
The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled the 2009 video gambling bill was constitutional. Every community and county that does not OPT OUT of video gambling, will have local people gambling and losing money in their own community. People who would never participate in illegal gambling, will be tempted to try their luck when the legal machines are installed in truck stops, sports bars, restaurants, bowing alleys, veterans and fraternal organizations, and many other locations. Making gambling more accessible will lead to increases in addiction, bankruptcy, and crime.
One bet is for sure: Gambling expansion never sleeps.
Where loopholes in the law exist, gambling will find a way to bypass the intent of the law. Where masses of people visit or live, gambling will find a way to exploit them. Where there is money to be had, gambling interests will mine it, regardless of the harm caused. It’s the nature of gambling and greed.
Such is the sad irony playing out in our nation’s capital with a recent lottery-based online gambling amendment.
District of Columbia council member, Michael A. Brown, slipped an amendment into a larger budget bill to authorize it late last year. Brown’s amendment bypassed public vetting and normal procedures for approving legislative changes. When suspicions of wrongdoing began to surface, Washington, D.C. hit the brakes on the Internet gambling scheme until council member Brown could be investigated, proper procedures for approval followed and a public vetting granted.
In light of the sudden online-gambling bravado impasse, the brazen online gambling lobby and the D.C. lottery – insistent on moving forward regardless of approval – are jointly promoting “gambling demonstrations” to whet the appetites of the D.C. public – for points and not real money (yet), of course.
According to the Washington Times article , “Any effort to implement online gambling would have to comply with the federal Johnson Act, which generally prohibits the manufacture, possession, use, sale or transportation of any gambling device in the District of Columbia…. While serving as D.C. attorney general, Peter J. Nickles argued that the District’s gambling law would need to clear multiple federal legal hurdles before online gambling could start.”
Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the brazen gambling bullies had to swallow a “NO” pill in Washington, D.C.?
We’ll see.
