 For years, bars and establishments have had video machines, but
state law has allowed patrons to play only games such as poker and
keno for recreational, non-gambling purposes.Last summer, Gov.
Pat Quinn approved of allowing gambling with video gaming machines
and expanding production of the machines. A cut of video gaming
revenues would go toward providing funding for a $31 billion
multiyear statewide construction program.
More than a year later, state government is still struggling to
get video gaming off the ground. This August, the Illinois Gaming
Board bid a contract to Scientific Games International to help
develop a communications system for video gaming.
Earlier this month, the board retracted that contract and will
redo the bidding process at a date to be determined.
"In evaluating the price portion of the proposals,
miscalculations were made, due, in part, to assumptions made by the
Gaming Board and by vendors that were not uniform and not
clarified," the Gaming Board said in a statement.
Once the board finalizes a contract, the state still has to
complete construction and statewide installation of gaming machines.
A spokesman with the board said the delay could push back the
launch date for video gaming until next July.
State Sen. John O. Jones, R-Mount Vernon, wants the state agency
and the Quinn administration to move with urgency on video gaming.
"Quite frankly, if we don't have it up and running until July of
next year and can't sell additional bonding until July of next year,
... we will have failed in another construction season because we
won't have the bond money to pay for it," he said.
But state Sen. Terry Link, D-Lake Bluff, said the Quinn
administration has already begun selling bonds to help fund
construction projects, using revenues from other sources.
"I'm not as concerned about it as (I would be) if it was a case
where it would have held up all the bonding sales. Then, I would
have been greatly concerned about it," he said.
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The $31 billion construction program Quinn inked into law last
summer named several funding sources, including video gaming
expansion, the private management of the Illinois State Lottery,
online lottery receipts, hikes in alcohol taxes and upticks in motor
vehicle fees.
Together, these sources were supposed to bring in $1 billion that
would be used to borrow more money by issuing bonds, funding the
slate of construction projects over several years. A legislative
commission originally estimated that video gaming expansion would
bring in between $280 million and $533 million.
But the original estimates calculated by a legislative commission
assumed all eligible communities and the city of Chicago would "opt
in" to video gaming expansion.
A recent memorandum from the Illinois Gaming Board indicated that
72 communities and four counties have banned video poker. Those
localities opting out as well as the city of Chicago still not
allowing video gaming could mean at least a reduction of $100
million from the initial estimates.
But Link said estimates were deliberately conservative, and he
expects video gaming to make a strong showing once machines are up
and running.
"Even though these economic times are a little tough, I think
you'll see that the amount of money generated with video poker
throughout the state will be a lot more positive, a lot more
profitable than what we're even estimating," he said.
Jones said localities that ban video gaming machines will still
get the benefit of public works projects that were funded from
proceeds through those machines.
"The most frustrating thing is that every community that chooses
to opt out of this, those communities are going to benefit from the
capital bill, and quite frankly, I think they ought to be paying
part of the expenses," he said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By KEVIN LEE]
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