Elgin may lobby Quinn against gambling expansion

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

ELGIN — Mayor Dave Kaptain said Wednesday the city will lobby Gov. Pat Quinn to veto a bill passed by the state Senate this week that would pave the way for a massive expansion of gambling in Illinois.

Elgin, which has been home to the Grand Victoria Casino since 1994, may not have to argue too hard, however.

While Quinn stopped short of saying he would veto the legislation authorizing the gambling venues outright, he told reporters Wednesday the bill was “excessive.”

Kaptain said the city’s lobbying efforts might mean a trip downstate sometime soon, joining mayors from other towns with existing casinos directly impacted by the additional casino and gaming spots that the legislation would allow.

According to Elgin’s 2011 budget, the city’s share of casino revenue stood at $25 million in 2007 and reached $26.8 million in 2008. It’s declined steadily since then, to a projected $16.5 million for 2011. Prior to the bill’s passage, the city had estimated its share would drop to $12.54 million in 2012 due to a casino opening this fall in Des Plaines.

The city uses casino money for capital projects and to assist nonprofits.

“For a long time, I’ve said this is the wrong way to go,” Kaptain said of the new legislation. “It’s slicing the same pie, but this just means making all the slices smaller.”

The mayor said he is not opposed to adding slots at Chicago’s airports or even to a casino in the heart of the big city to help with its convention business. But he was skeptical about projected revenues the new gambling is supposed to bring to the state’s budget.

He also had major questions about other parts of the legislation — and from reports he had heard Wednesday, believes the governor has concerns, too.

“Why five” new casinos? Kaptain asked. “I have questions about adding gambling in Rockford and Park City. And if they allow gambling at the tracks, would that mean their subsidy would be gone? That might not be such a bad thing.”

The Grand Victoria did not return phone calls seeking comment on the bill.

The Senate voted 30-27 Tuesday to send Quinn the legislation for a sprawling gambling network that could more than triple the number of wagering spots in the state. The House approved the bill earlier.

It would allow for news casinos in Chicago, Rockford, Park City, the south suburbs and Danville, and permit slot machines at racetracks and possibly the city’s two airports.

“I have told the legislators over and over again the people of Illinois do not want an excessive gambling bill that’s top-heavy, and I think I reflect the public sentiment on that,” Quinn said.

“In Chicago, I have said I can see — if it’s properly done — an opportunity for a gambling casino,” the governor told reporters in his Statehouse office Wednesday. “But once the General Assembly got this subject, both House and Senate, it got more and more top-heavy. Well, my job is to make sure the people of Illinois come first, not the gamblers, not the insiders.”

‘Microscopic review’

Quinn repeatedly refused to say whether he would veto the package, pledging only his intent for a “microscopic review” of the first significant gambling expansion package in Illinois in more than 20 years.

Should Quinn kill the Chicago casino or send the legislation back to the General Assembly with changes, he would be imperiling one of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top priorities since taking office. There were not enough votes in the House and Senate to support an override of an outright veto or amendatory veto.

During the last two weeks, Emanuel met personally with Quinn to discuss his desire for a city casino and, since Friday, made personal phone calls to wavering city lawmakers to help get the package over the legislative hump.

But Quinn made clear he is not concerned about harming his relationship with the new mayor if he takes action that winds up scuttling the city casino because it was embedded with too many other gambling pieces he opposes.

“I’m beholden to the people of Illinois, not to legislators, not to mayors,” Quinn said. “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?’ ”

The Chicago Sun-Times contributed to this report.