Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate J. B. Pritzker, running against incumbent Republican Bruce Rauner, recently expressed support for Republican state Senator Bill Brady’s proposal to allow slots at racetracks, with a portion of revenue going to capital projects.
Pritzker stated, “We should look at expanding gaming in the state, and, or, legalizing sports betting in the state as a source of revenue for an infrastructure bill. We should all agree here we need to invest in our infrastructure. I think it’s worthy of looking at the ideas coming out of Republicans about how do you pay for it. Senator Bill Brady had an idea that I think is worthy of us spending time on. We need a stable source of revenue and Bill Brady has proposed something that I think is worth looking at.”
Brady’s proposal would allow slots at racetracks with a portion of revenue going to capital projects. Illinois racetracks long have been losing revenue and horses to neighboring states that offer slots and use that revenue to enlarge purses.
In addition, the date for the second of two public hearings on gambling expansion was rescheduled from October 3 to October 17 at the Capitol in Springfield. The subjects will be online gaming, including internet gaming, sports betting and fantasy sports. State Rep. Bob Rita organized the hearings before two House subcommittees, Gaming and Sales and Other Taxes. In the last legislative session he sponsored an amendment to Senate Bill 7 that included authorizing up to four new casinos plus slots at racetracks.
Rita said he hopes the hearings will help build a consensus on expanded gambling legislation that lawmakers could consider after the November election. He said, “As I have said from the beginning in working on this issue, gaming expansion presents many tremendous opportunities to create revenue, jobs and economic growth in Illinois. The gaming landscape has changed significantly since I took on this issue five years ago, and I want to use these hearings to understand how those changes present new opportunities for us to put the right package together as we look to meet budget needs and provide a spark for our economy.”
