Lang, Quinn Continue to Spar Over Gambling Bill

State Rep. Lou Lang has talked often of attempting to get gambling expanded in Illinois for 20 years. If the veteran Skokie lawmaker wants to achieve that goal, he still has a lot of work ahead of him.

Facing opposition from Governor Pat Quinn, the gaming bill that Lang sponsored in the recent veto session, received only 58 votes of the 60 needed to pass the House. This was a scaled back version of gambling legislation, also sponsored by Lang, which had passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly earlier this year.

Despite the defeat, Lang remains optimistic that he will eventually get a bill passed, either in the last day of the veto session on Nov. 29th or in the 2012 spring session.

“This bill only failed because two members were sick,” Lang said. He added that he believes he has commitments from 64 members in the House of Representatives at the moment and he could eventually reach 71, which is a crucial number as that would override a potential Quinn veto.

Lang said he is continuing to have meetings about the legislation, but not with the governor, with whom he said has not consented to any further negotiation on Saturday.

“We have given him everything that he wants,” Lang said. “We made all sorts of changes.  But he still does not support the bill which one wonders whether there is any gaming bill he is for.  It may be he is just opposed to a gaming bill and he is not willing to say that.”

Quinn has his own thoughts on the gambling bill.

“We have a good framework that would make sure that integrity is always protected in Illinois,” Quinn told reporters on November 16th.  “We scale back the expansion of gambling so that it’s reasonable and moderate and not excessive and that we use the proceeds for good things.”

Last month Quinn presented a counterproposal while formally promising a veto of the Lang bill. Among the major philosophical disagreements of the two that came up then and has yet to be resolved, was the placement of slot machines at racetracks. Lang said that was a critical need to prop up the horse racing industry, but Quinn remains opposed to that particular aspect.

The failure of the veto session legislation marked another twist in a drama that has been ongoing since May when both chambers narrowly passed a bill that Lang believes would bring in thousands of jobs to Illinois and as much as $1 billion in new revenue. However, gambling opponents were concerned about the amounts of new gaming opportunities as well as a lack of regulatory control.

Since the original gaming bill was passed in May, its foundation of supporters has slowly slipped away starting with Quinn labeling it “top heavy.”   Interpreting that assessment as a veto threat, the legislation was never sent formally to Quinn to prevent the process from going back to square one.

The recent legislation that Lang offered included tighter regulatory mechanisms, fewer casinos and the elimination of slot machines at O’Hare Airport, but kept in the slot machines at race tracks, which Lang acknowledges is the main sticking point right now.

Among the lawmakers who did not favor that bill was State Rep. Dan Biss, who to replace Jeff Schoenberg in the State Senate.

“I still felt it was a massive expansion of gaming,” Biss said. “There isn’t one specific thing but between everything, it was just more than I could support.”

Lang conceded there may not be a chance to vote on this bill again until next year.

But on the other hand, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants a casino in Chicago and has been working with Lang to get something done. Next, with Illinois deeply immersed in red ink, Quinn may want to accept some gambling as a way to inject some cash. Lang also has an ally in Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.

Lang, who has been around the state capital for a long time, acknowledges what reality is today, could be gone tomorrow. He said, “People change their mind in my business.”

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