Illinois General Assembly, video gaming, and increased gambling?
I’m changing direction this week. Although I plan more posts on healthcare nationalized, this week I’m going to cover the State of Illinois and its new push to increase revenue by allowing gambling/video gaming throughout the State.
I had intended to end my series on video gaming on Saturday the 19th. However, I have more to say and it seems apparent that healthcare nationalized will not occur this week and may not occur this year—nor should it.
Therefore, I’m going to write a few more posts on video gaming and then return to healthcare nationalized.
An interesting and pertinent article was published in the Peoria Journal Star on September 24, 2009, page B1 and B3. I’m not going to quote the entire article—just the portions pertaining to gambling that coincide with the topic at hand. The headline and subhead are as follows: “OTB (off-track betting—my addition) parlor ‘a dying situation’” “General manager says the Finish Line will close after the Breeders’ Cup, then reopen as a sports bar.” (With the new video gaming law and as a sports bar that serves alcohol, the new establishment can still continue its gambling enterprise with five video gaming machines. So, all is not lost on the gambling front!—my addition)
The selected quotes from the article:
“Off-track betting is finishing out of the money in central Illinois—again.
The Finish Line the off-track betting parlor … will close sometime in November….”
“The problem with the Finish Line was not enough players…. ‘There just hasn’t been enough traffic at the OTB parlor to warrant staying open. It’s been incurring losses for many years. I really don’t think there’s much future there. It’s a dying situation’….” (page B1)
“Landmark was the site for the state’s first OTB parlor when it opened in September 1987. Betting topped $25 million in 1990 but activity declined rapidly after the Par-A-Dice Riverboat Casino (It’s not actually a riverboat but a land located casino next to the Illinois River. It is my understanding that the casino doesn’t actually have to be a boat on the river to qualify as a “riverboat” casino. Riverboat gambling, which was at one time allowed along some of the major waterways in another era, was just a fiction created by the Illinois General Assembly to rationalize casino gambling in the State—my addition.) opened in East Peoria (located in Tazewell County, my county—my addition) in November 1991.” (pages B1 and B3)
“‘The Peoria OTB was one of the most successful OTBs in the state until the riverboat came to town,’ said Paul O’Connor, a spokesman for Arlington Park racetrack in Chicago, in an interview in 1994.
Peoria’s OTB outlet closed in November 1995 but returned to the Landmark center in May 2000.
The ‘handle,’ or amount [of—my addition] bets taken in the Peoria OTB parlor, has declined since it reopened…. ‘We did a $12 million handle the first year (Note the amount of money transferred by gambling—$12 million—at this one enterprise in one year that could have otherwise been used to purchase other goods and services in Central Illinois—my addition.) after we reopened. Now it’s down to $6 million a year,’ he said. (And they can’t make a profit on the transfer of six million dollars a year—my addition.)
Efforts to stir interest in the flagging enterprise, such as proposals to allow slot machines or video poker machines (The “crack cocaine” of gambling!—my addition) in OTB parlors, haven’t gotten off the ground (The State legislature would not allow OTB parlors to have video poker machines but has now allowed them in any location that sells alcohol by the glass!—my addition), said Lanzotti, who also cited the Internet as another problem for the OTB industry. ‘It’s a very difficult business with Internet gambling. You’ve got the big hitters staying home to bet on the races,’ he said.” (page B3)
“Peoria isn’t the only place that’s seen off-track betting numbers decline, he said. ‘They’re down across Illinois. Danville closed their OTB outlet, and the Bloomington (outlet) just moved to another location. There’s just not a bright future for OTBs,’ said Lanzotti.” (page B3)
I’m not sure if the following is totally accurate but for our purposes it will be sufficient. Let’s say that before this year, there were three basic sources of legalized gambling in Illinois. (I know of at least these three.)
1) racetrack betting and the later ensuing OTB parlors—owned by private companies and regulated and “taxed” by the State
2) lottery drawings—owned by the State and regulated by the State
3) “riverboat” casino gambling—owned by private companies and regulated and “taxed” by the State
This year, the State has legally given its blessing to a fourth legalized gambling activity—legalized video gaming. Consequently, the State of Illinois now has, at least, four different areas of legalized gambling. The fourth being:
4) video gaming—owned by many thousands of private companies located throughout the State and regulated and “taxed” by the State
Regardless of the number of different areas of legalized gambling allowed by the State, one thing is true. When a new activity is added—video gaming—only one of three possibilities can occur. Overall gambling can decrease, stay the same, or increase in the amount of dollars expended for gambling.
It seems unlikely that overall gambling will decrease. It seems obvious that the intent of the State legislature is NOT to decrease overall gambling. If gambling decreased, the State would receive less revenue defeating the avowed purpose of the law—to increase State revenue for capital works projects.
If overall gambling remains the same, then the mix of where money is being spent would have to change unless, of course, no one participated in the new addition to the mix—video gaming. Thus, dollars being used for racetrack and OTB parlors might decrease as has already occurred because of “riverboat” casinos and other factors. Or, a combination of the three might decrease with the extra money going toward video gaming. In that case, depending upon the “tax” on the other three and the combined mix of decrease, the State might again actually end up with less tax money than before the change in the law. However, it seems obvious that the intent of the State legislature is NOT to decrease the amount of revenue received through gambling.
Therefore, it seems obvious that the intent of this law is to deliberately increase the amount of overall gambling expenditures within the State to increase State revenue for capital works projects. (Of course, even with an overall increase in gambling revenue, one or more of the previous three allowed gambling activities might still decrease in dollars expended on that specific activity—switching to video gaming instead of the other activities.) And to accomplish this end, the gambling activity legalized is the “crack cocaine” of gambling—video gaming with all the evils and social costs associated with gambling as covered in previous posts. Does that make sense to you?
By the way, recently I was talking with a former Illinois State Senator who retired from the State Senate in, I believe, the early 2000’s. He said that video gaming had been considered by the State before and defeated by the State legislature. He also said that a compelling argument against video gaming was the large number of wives pleading with the members of the legislature NOT to pass a law legalizing video gaming. The reason: compulsive, addictive gambling activity by their husbands was destroying their families!
The previous legislature responded to that appeal by NOT legalizing video gaming. What has happened that has reversed the possibility of families being destroyed by predatory gambling? NOTHING!!! Nothing except the GREED of this legislature for MORE money!!! “Give US more money,” demands the legislature.
Did your Representative vote to increase gambling in Illinois? Why? Did your Senator vote to increase gambling in Illinois? Why?
I’m changing direction this week. Although I plan more posts on healthcare nationalized, this week I’m going to cover the State of Illinois and its new push to increase revenue by allowing gambling/video gaming throughout the State.
I had intended to end my series on video gaming on Saturday the 19th. However, I have more to say and it seems apparent that healthcare nationalized will not occur this week and may not occur this year—nor should it.
Therefore, I’m going to write a few more posts on video gaming and then return to healthcare nationalized.
An interesting and pertinent article was published in the Peoria Journal Star on September 24, 2009, page B1 and B3. I’m not going to quote the entire article—just the portions pertaining to gambling that coincide with the topic at hand. The headline and subhead are as follows: “OTB (off-track betting—my addition) parlor ‘a dying situation’” “General manager says the Finish Line will close after the Breeders’ Cup, then reopen as a sports bar.” (With the new video gaming law and as a sports bar that serves alcohol, the new establishment can still continue its gambling enterprise with five video gaming machines. So, all is not lost on the gambling front!—my addition)
The selected quotes from the article:
“Off-track betting is finishing out of the money in central Illinois—again.
The Finish Line the off-track betting parlor … will close sometime in November….”
“The problem with the Finish Line was not enough players…. ‘There just hasn’t been enough traffic at the OTB parlor to warrant staying open. It’s been incurring losses for many years. I really don’t think there’s much future there. It’s a dying situation’….” (page B1)
“Landmark was the site for the state’s first OTB parlor when it opened in September 1987. Betting topped $25 million in 1990 but activity declined rapidly after the Par-A-Dice Riverboat Casino (It’s not actually a riverboat but a land located casino next to the Illinois River. It is my understanding that the casino doesn’t actually have to be a boat on the river to qualify as a “riverboat” casino. Riverboat gambling, which was at one time allowed along some of the major waterways in another era, was just a fiction created by the Illinois General Assembly to rationalize casino gambling in the State—my addition.) opened in East Peoria (located in Tazewell County, my county—my addition) in November 1991.” (pages B1 and B3)
“‘The Peoria OTB was one of the most successful OTBs in the state until the riverboat came to town,’ said Paul O’Connor, a spokesman for Arlington Park racetrack in Chicago, in an interview in 1994.
Peoria’s OTB outlet closed in November 1995 but returned to the Landmark center in May 2000.
The ‘handle,’ or amount [of—my addition] bets taken in the Peoria OTB parlor, has declined since it reopened…. ‘We did a $12 million handle the first year (Note the amount of money transferred by gambling—$12 million—at this one enterprise in one year that could have otherwise been used to purchase other goods and services in Central Illinois—my addition.) after we reopened. Now it’s down to $6 million a year,’ he said. (And they can’t make a profit on the transfer of six million dollars a year—my addition.)
Efforts to stir interest in the flagging enterprise, such as proposals to allow slot machines or video poker machines (The “crack cocaine” of gambling!—my addition) in OTB parlors, haven’t gotten off the ground (The State legislature would not allow OTB parlors to have video poker machines but has now allowed them in any location that sells alcohol by the glass!—my addition), said Lanzotti, who also cited the Internet as another problem for the OTB industry. ‘It’s a very difficult business with Internet gambling. You’ve got the big hitters staying home to bet on the races,’ he said.” (page B3)
“Peoria isn’t the only place that’s seen off-track betting numbers decline, he said. ‘They’re down across Illinois. Danville closed their OTB outlet, and the Bloomington (outlet) just moved to another location. There’s just not a bright future for OTBs,’ said Lanzotti.” (page B3)
I’m not sure if the following is totally accurate but for our purposes it will be sufficient. Let’s say that before this year, there were three basic sources of legalized gambling in Illinois. (I know of at least these three.)
1) racetrack betting and the later ensuing OTB parlors—owned by private companies and regulated and “taxed” by the State
2) lottery drawings—owned by the State and regulated by the State
3) “riverboat” casino gambling—owned by private companies and regulated and “taxed” by the State
This year, the State has legally given its blessing to a fourth legalized gambling activity—legalized video gaming. Consequently, the State of Illinois now has, at least, four different areas of legalized gambling. The fourth being:
4) video gaming—owned by many thousands of private companies located throughout the State and regulated and “taxed” by the State
Regardless of the number of different areas of legalized gambling allowed by the State, one thing is true. When a new activity is added—video gaming—only one of three possibilities can occur. Overall gambling can decrease, stay the same, or increase in the amount of dollars expended for gambling.
It seems unlikely that overall gambling will decrease. It seems obvious that the intent of the State legislature is NOT to decrease overall gambling. If gambling decreased, the State would receive less revenue defeating the avowed purpose of the law—to increase State revenue for capital works projects.
If overall gambling remains the same, then the mix of where money is being spent would have to change unless, of course, no one participated in the new addition to the mix—video gaming. Thus, dollars being used for racetrack and OTB parlors might decrease as has already occurred because of “riverboat” casinos and other factors. Or, a combination of the three might decrease with the extra money going toward video gaming. In that case, depending upon the “tax” on the other three and the combined mix of decrease, the State might again actually end up with less tax money than before the change in the law. However, it seems obvious that the intent of the State legislature is NOT to decrease the amount of revenue received through gambling.
Therefore, it seems obvious that the intent of this law is to deliberately increase the amount of overall gambling expenditures within the State to increase State revenue for capital works projects. (Of course, even with an overall increase in gambling revenue, one or more of the previous three allowed gambling activities might still decrease in dollars expended on that specific activity—switching to video gaming instead of the other activities.) And to accomplish this end, the gambling activity legalized is the “crack cocaine” of gambling—video gaming with all the evils and social costs associated with gambling as covered in previous posts. Does that make sense to you?
By the way, recently I was talking with a former Illinois State Senator who retired from the State Senate in, I believe, the early 2000’s. He said that video gaming had been considered by the State before and defeated by the State legislature. He also said that a compelling argument against video gaming was the large number of wives pleading with the members of the legislature NOT to pass a law legalizing video gaming. The reason: compulsive, addictive gambling activity by their husbands was destroying their families!
The previous legislature responded to that appeal by NOT legalizing video gaming. What has happened that has reversed the possibility of families being destroyed by predatory gambling? NOTHING!!! Nothing except the GREED of this legislature for MORE money!!! “Give US more money,” demands the legislature.
Did your Representative vote to increase gambling in Illinois? Why? Did your Senator vote to increase gambling in Illinois? Why?
posted by Christian Gunslinger at 11:14 PM
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