The Illinois Senate Gaming Committee recently heard from Danville Mayor Scott Eisenhauer, who noted a Danville casino would create 800 permanent jobs, 600 construction jobs, generate million in annual wages and add – million to the annual city budget. A proposed Danville casino is part of a proposed expanded gambling bill, sponsored by state Senator Terry Link.
Eisenhauer said 65 percent of a Danville casino’s business would come from Indiana, noting a casino in Terre Haute, about an hour south of Danville, could be built “if in fact the state doesn’t move forward in Illinois,” he said. “While I certainly don’t want to come forward as threatening the state that this is a matter that must be dealt with immediately, certainly, if this is not dealt with sooner rather than later, I might not be able to show the same map with the lack of competition in Indiana.”
Eisenhauer told state senators the proposed legislation is an economic development bill. “As an economic development bill, this bill for the city of Danville would be an investment of over $250 million. It would provide permanent as well as temporary jobs in excess of 1,000, and it would give our citizens an opportunity to seek greater employment opportunities,” Eisenhauer said.
Representatives of Illinois’ horseracing industry and the state’s three racetracks endorsed the legislation because it would allow video gambling at the tracks. Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association Executive Director Tony Simone said, “We need this desperately.”
However, Illinois Casino Gaming Association Director Tom said the state already is saturated with gambling opportunities, including 25,000 video-gambling machines. He said casino gambling revenue has declined 44 percent in the past decade, mainly due to video gambling. “We have more than double the number of licensed gaming venues in Illinois than there are in Las Vegas. Expansion has already occurred in Illinois,” Swoik said.
Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems Executive Director Anita Bedell said the proposed legislation is “a massive expansion of gambling” that would lead to more social and criminal problems in Illinois. “These costs are not calculated, but they will have to be paid. There are broken families, ruined lives that come from this,” she said.
