The Illinois House has just ten more days to vote on proposed legislation that could bring up to six brick and mortar casinos to the state. Earlier last week, Senate lawmakers voted that SB7 move on to a decision by the House.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Dave Syverson and was formerly part of a bigger package put together in the hope of helping Illinois out of its budget deficit. But time is running out for the bill, as it needs to survive a House vote before the legislature adjourns on May 31st, 2017.
Senator Syverson has said that should his SB7 be approved, it would be “an absolute game changer” as far as economic revenue for the state was concerned. The construction of casinos would generate millions of dollars in Illinois’ General Revenue Fund which supports the local economy. The state is struggling to solve a 50 month budget impasse which is having a negative effect on the economy.
The bill was previously part of a larger package of legislative bills but it was separated and presented to the General Assembly as a single bill last week after it was amended.
So what do we know about SB 7 at present?
It will certainly change the face of gambling as the state of Illinois knows it. At present, only riverboats are allowed to offer casino games, and they are charged up to 50% of their revenue in taxes.
The new bill will allow the construction of land based casinos, and these venues will only be taxed 20% on slot games and 16% on table games.
Qualified casino operators will be issued a license at a cost of $50 million each.
According to State Senate Majority Leader Terry Link, who helped author SB7, Illinois needs “to find multiple ways to shore up our fiscal house and by expanding gaming we can do just that.”
“We lose gaming revenues daily to Indiana and Wisconsin because of the lack of opportunity,” he said. “We should take every step we can to keep that money in Illinois.
One of the proposed sites for a new land based casino is Rockford, where a group of investors has already snapped up the site of the city’s Clock Tower Resort for $3.6 million. Developers say that they are ready to begin work on a casino any time that the bill passes the House.
