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Business, Labor Organizations Rally At Chicago City Hall To Allow Video Gambling

Posted on April 28th, 2010

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An alliance of different organizations gathered before the Chicago City Hall today to present their appeal to the City Council to overturn the city’s ban on video gambling. “Today, business and labour organizations, construction and trade groups, the hospitality industry, neighborhood community groups have come together to demonstrate our support for the state capital plan, creating jobs and support the funding system needed to get our companies and our individuals back to work,” said Jerry Roper, president and chief executive officer of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

The state capital plan is a $31billion state construction program created by the government to build and repair public works projects that could benefit hundreds of workers. To pay for roughly a third of that program, the state legislature approved a measure last year allowing for video gambling machines in taverns, bars and other establishments with liquor licenses.

The proposal has not yet been implemented because a number of communities have opted out of the program and decided to ban video gambling machines in their localities. Chicago is one of those communities and without the participation of Chicago, the funding for the state capital program would drop by about $2 billion, according to Doug Whitley, president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

Opponents of gambling have been persuading the communities to opt out of the program because they say legalizing the machines could multiply the number of people with gambling problems. Lately, however, the number of communities banning the video gambling machines has diminished. Greg Goldner, the former campaign chairman of Mayor Richard Daley organized the rally through a coalition he heads, Back to Work Illinois. The coalition consists of business organizations, labour unions, the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association and the United Neighborhood Organization.

Back to Work Illinois has been trying to persuade aldermen to support its case, but so far no public hearing on the issue has been scheduled by Alderman Eugene Schulter, 47th, who heads the license committee. Walt Stowe, a consultant of Back to Work Illinois who is an ex-FBI agent said it would be easier for authorities to control gambling machines that are legalized because it would be a felony to operate an unlicensed machine. “Either a machine will be licensed by the Illinois Gaming Board or it will be illegal,” Stowe said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Mayor Daley has proposed to put the issue on the referendum. “It’s not me, it will be the people who decide this. If you put it on the ballot, you’ll find out what the people want,” Daley said.