SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gambling legislation
designed to pick up new support so it could survive a veto instead suffered a
surprising defeat Wednesday in the Illinois House, amid opposition from Gov.
Pat Quinn and blistering criticism from the state's top gambling regulator.
Looking stunned, the measure's sponsor said he was
at a loss to explain the outcome.
"We'll get to the bottom of it and figure out
if we can find the necessary votes to pass it by tomorrow," said Rep. Lou
Lang, D-Skokie.
The surprise results added to the uncertainty and
unfinished business heading into what was supposed to be the final day of the
fall legislative session. Also still left on the table for Thursday were tax breaks
for businesses, efforts to keep Quinn from closing prisons and mental
institutions, changes to government pensions and restoring salaries for
regional school superintendents.
The long "to do" list prompted House
leaders to announce an extra day of work, on Nov. 21, primarily to deal with
the business incentives.
House Speaker Rep. Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said
opposition from Quinn and the head of the Illinois Gaming Board probably hurt
the gambling bill.
"That could dissuade people from voting
yes," Madigan said.
The Democratic governor has spent weeks criticizing
the gambling legislation, largely because it would allow slot machines at
horse-racing tracks. On Wednesday, Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe stepped up
his criticism of the bill, saying it would weaken regulatory oversight of
gambling in Illinois.
Jaffe said the bill is being pushed through so
quickly that many lawmakers, perhaps even its sponsors, don't understand what
it would do.
"If they do understand what they're voting on,
they should be ashamed of themselves," Jaffe said in a telephone interview
with The Associated Press. "They're undermining regulation, and they're
undermining it terribly."
Six months ago, a major gambling expansion passed
the House but not with enough votes to survive a potential veto by Quinn.
The new version was meant to pick up additional
support. It scaled back the size of the increase — for instance, by dropping
slot machines at Chicago airports and the state fairgrounds — and addressed
complaints about lax regulation.
The measure still allowed five new casinos and
permitted racetracks to operate slot machines.
The final vote in the House was 58-53, two votes
short of passing and 13 short of a veto-proof majority.
The vote was a victory for Quinn and a defeat for
new Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is eager to land a Chicago casino, along
with the jobs and taxes it would generate.
"The mayor of the city of Chicago is a big
boy. He's an adult," Lang said. "He knows that in the legislative
process you win some, you lose some."
"But I know he's not happy about losing, as I
am not," Lang added.
Also Wednesday, the House approved a temporary plan
to pay regional school superintendents, whose salaries were eliminated by
Quinn, and voted to take pensions away from two lobbyists who qualified for
teacher retirement benefits by spending a single day as substitute teachers.
Lawmakers also sent the governor a bill that would allow Chicago to blanket the
city with cameras to watch for drivers speeding near schools and parks.
But most of the day's debate centered on the
gambling legislation.
Lang said support for the gambling expansion may
have been hurt because lawmakers are skittish ahead of primary elections, which
are only a few months away. Renewed opposition from Jaffe, the Gaming Board
chairman, may have hurt, too.
Jaffe, a former legislator, accused supporters of
trying to rush the gambling bill through the Legislature with little review.
Jaffe said he hasn't been able to study the bill thoroughly, but it appears to
require quick approval of licenses for racetracks that want to operate slot
machines and of internal procedures at casinos. That doesn't leave time for
proper review, he said.
He also criticized the bill for failing to bar
campaign contributions by gambling interests.
Proponents said Jaffe's concerns about weakening
oversight are groundless. They said the Gaming Board would be given an
additional $50 million to conduct investigations and would retain ultimate
authority over all casinos, including one in Chicago that would have a special
governing board of its own.
Supporters also said the Gaming Board would get
more time to review license applications, and that the Chicago license would
have to go through a renewal process every four years, just like any other
casino.
Lawmakers offered their own reasons for opposing
the expansion. Many predicted it would hurt existing casinos by splitting the
limited pool of people who like to gamble.
"Creating more casinos doesn't necessarily
mean we're going to get more people in the state of Illinois to go to those
casinos," said Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora.
Associated Press writers Deanna Bellandi and John
O'Connor contributed to this report.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
