Lang Content Gambling Bill Still in Play

So close and yet so far. That is the phrase that hangs over state Rep. Lou Lang right now as he awaits the fate of gambling legislation that he has worked on for more than 20 years.

In late spring, Lang, who serves as floor leader for the Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, had legislation passed that would dramatically expand gambling in the state with the hope it would bring hundreds of millions of new dollars into the state.

Instead of it being sent to Gov. Pat Quinn, the bill has yet to be formally forwarded for his signature to become law.

State Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) has taken this unusual course in an effort to find common ground with Quinn, who has expressed misgivings about the measure. But the waiting period may be coming to an end.

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Lang (D-Skokie) thinks some type of bill will be sent to Quinn within the next few days. Speculation is emerging that Cullerton will send a “trailer” bill to Quinn that will address some of the governor’s concerns about the legislation being “top heavy.”

A Cullerton spokeswoman said the Senate president is waiting to hear from the governor’s office about specific problems with the bill and will act once those concerns are stated. That is where the trailer bill is likely to be put into play.

That tactic has not thrilled Quinn.

“The bill has not been sent to us yet and the governor believes that it is not the way the legislative process is supposed to work,” said Quinn’s spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson. “The governor wants to make sure the gambling legislation is done right the first time.”

But the situation remains sticky and alternate legislation is likely to be forthcoming despite Quinn’s disapproval.

“There will be a cousin,” Lang said. “A bill that looks like this [the original] bill but won’t be exactly this bill."

"My guess is he is not going to sign this bill as written unless there is a trailer bill that meets his expectations,” he added about the governor's intentions.

While Quinn has expressed major reluctance to sign the legislation, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel strongly supports it. Emanuel sees the possible infusion of money from a casino in downtown Chicago as helping the city alleviate a 2012 deficit projected at more than $600 million.

The contrasting desires over the gambling legislation has produced a rift between the governor and the mayor.   

“The City of Chicago needs the revenue, there is no other way of saying it,” said Professor Paul Green, who teaches policy studies at Roosevelt University. “Quinn has an agenda, Emanuel has an agenda, and it is a matter of who can outduel the other one.”

As for the final outcome, Lang waits like everyone else.

“Sometimes the legislative process is messy; sometimes it is frustrating,” said Lang, who has served in the State House since 1987. “This provides no more frustration than other bills I have worked on.

"Yes it has provided frustration for a longer period of time, but I do not accumulate frustration and get bent out of shape," he added. "I consider myself a professional legislator and I take this methodically one step at a time, and I don’t think people in public life can afford to get so frustrated that they lose perspective on what they are doing.”

But that has many opposing sides. Advocates of the bill have noted that expanding gambling in Illinois could bring in as much as $1 billion annually, but opponents have asked how much good the bill will really do for state residents.

The state has 10 casinos, with the newest being the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, whose . 

“While I am a big proponent of this gaming bill and the jobs and economic development it can bring, I would not dare say that this is some panacea for all of the problems Illinois faces," Lang said.

"Therefore, I would not step forward and say this is the most important bill in the history of the state of Illinois. I can’t afford the luxury of getting frustrated,” he acknowledged.

Lang may be on the outside looking in as Quinn, Emanuel and Madigan look to emerge as winners of a Springfield wrestling match.

“There are only three seats at the adults table [and] everyone else is at the kids table,” Green said.

Lang doesn’t see it that way. “I feel like I am part of working out the deal. While the mayor and the governor have been sparring a little bit, they share [the] hope to create jobs and more economic development for the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago,” the lawmaker said.

But Lang says what is going on is the normal give and take of the legislative process and thinks some type of bill to expand gambling in the state will eventually come.

“I’ve been working on gaming for 20 years,” Lang said.  “I’m close to getting something done. ... I’m not quite there yet. But certainly if I have worked on it for 20 years, I can wait 60 more days."

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