 The hearing will commence at 6 p.m. and will wrap up at 7 so that
the council can move on to their regular voting meeting for the
week.
The council is expected to lay down a few ground rules for those
who speak at the hearing.
In order to be recognized, speakers need to fill out the standard
form that is now required in order to address the council. They will
also be asked to keep their presentations brief, taking only three
to five minutes at the most, so as to allow everyone an opportunity
to speak.
In 2009, the Illinois General Assembly passed a number of public
acts known as the "Capital Projects Acts."
Included in the Capital Projects Acts was
Public Act 96-37, or
the FY2010 Budget Implementation Act, generally called the "capital
plan."
The capital plan outlined expenditures by the state of Illinois
that would benefit counties and municipalities in their special
projects. It also included an outline for a $12.84 billion
Multi-Year Highway Improvement Program for fiscal 2011-2016.
The city of Lincoln was included in the capital plan and
earmarked to receive more than $300,000 for various downtown
projects as well $1,000,000 for the Fifth Street Road project.
Also incorporated into the Capital Projects Acts was
Public Act
96-34, otherwise known as "an act concerning revenue." The act
included a new provision for video gaming; increased sales tax on
candy, "certain" beverages, grooming and hygiene products, wine,
beer, alcohol and spirits; increased fines and fees related to
vehicles; allowed 80,000-pound trucks on the roadways; allowed for
the privatization of the Illinois Lottery; created a pilot program
for purchasing lottery tickets online; and required the University
of Illinois to conduct a study of the effect on Illinois families
whose members purchase Illinois Lottery tickets.
Under the new law, the games that are currently in many local
establishments and labeled "for entertainment purposes only" would
be removed and replaced with machines that actually pay out cash to
the player.
The law would make the old machines illegal, and establishments
would have to make the choice of taking on the new machines, or
doing away with video gaming in their businesses.
The switch to the new machines was originally slated to occur in
midyear 2010. However through a series of incidents involving
problems with the production of the machines, glitches in a
centralized state computer that would attach to the new games, and
questions regarding the process used to award bids, the act was put
on hold for one year.
As it stands now, the old machines will become illegal in midyear
2011, and new cash-paying machines will take over in local
establishments, if the owners and the city go along with it.
The law allows for municipalities to ban video gaming inside
their city limits, but cities need to do this before the new law
actually takes effect. If municipalities do not ban the machines,
then, according to the law, they are implying their consent and will
have no future recourse.
On Jan. 25, the Lincoln City Council decided to conduct a public
hearing regarding this issue, but within just a few short days, it
appeared that it could be a mute point.
On Jan. 27 the state's Appellate Court ruled on a complaint filed
by W. Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz of Wirtz Corp. of Chicago, which stated
that the two public acts referred to as "an act concerning revenue"
and the "capital plan" were unrelated and therefore
unconstitutional.
Wirtz Corp. of Chicago holds interests in several industries,
including banking, real estate, insurance, sports, entertainment and
wholesale distribution throughout the United States. The corporation
owns Wirtz Beverage Illinois as well as similar distributorships in
Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin. Rocky Wirtz is also the owner
of an NHL hockey team, the Chicago Blackhawks.
For Wirtz, the parts of the acts that they were hoping to block
were those that involved increased taxes on wine and beer.
However, within hours Attorney General Lisa Madigan called for a
stay on the Appellate Court ruling that she received Feb. 1.
The state will file an official appeal to the ruling, which will
state that the two acts combined are related because they both
address funding for infrastructure projects.
If they win, the video gaming law will remain in effect; if they
lose, the state will have to go back to the beginning and start over
on this as well as several other items included in the original
acts.
[to top of second column] |
In a recent publication of Vending Times, a representative of
House Speaker Michael Madigan said it is expected that the state
Supreme Court will eventually find there are no violations of
constitutional law.
While the law has seemingly been plagued with problems and delays
since its passing, the time that has passed has allowed opponents of
the act as well as proponents to sharpen their pencils and put down
some very impressive statistics on the outcome of legalizing video
gaming (i.e., gambling).
In October of last year the Lincoln City Council heard from Anita
Bedell, executive director of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol
& Addiction Problems out of Springfield, who spoke out against video
gaming.
On Jan. 25 they heard from Rebecca VanNydeggen of The Salvation
Army, also opposing the new machines.
In addition, Al Eckhoff came before the council representing
Hartley Amusements of Peoria in April of last year, speaking in
favor of the machines.
According to Mayor Keith Snyder, the Tuesday night hearing will
have at least one representative from Hartley there to speak as well
as representatives from Best Gaming LLC out of Springfield.
Snyder said that in a meeting with Best Gaming representatives,
they stated they expected other gaming interests to be present for
the hearing as well.
As members of coalitions such as Back to Work Illinois and
Illinois Coalition for Employment and Business Growth, these gaming
representatives may very well spend at least a portion of their time
speaking on job creation through the gaming act and the effect that
will have on the local economy and local families.
At his Sunday morning church service, the Rev. Dustin Fulton of
Jefferson Street Christian Church said he wanted to encourage
parishioners to support banning video gaming in Lincoln.
In a conversation Monday afternoon with LDN, Fulton said he was
not conducting an official sign-up for people to attend, but he had
talked to several after the service who expressed their interest.
"As a church, we stand for families and do things that bless
families," Fulton said. "We do not believe that legalized gambling
will bless families."
In addition to industry representatives and special groups, city
aldermen are hoping for a good turnout of local residents for
tonight's meetings, as they seek to do what is best for the city and
their constituents.
[By NILA SMITH]
Past related
articles
-
Jan. 27, 2011 --
Appellate court repeals law on state
construction, video gambling
-
Jan. 26, 2011 --
To gamble or not: Community invited to
speak on video gaming
-
Oct. 13, 2010 --
City hears warning: Video gambling is
addictive
-
June 25, 2010 --
New Illinois law legalizing video gaming
machine gambling gets mixed local reaction
-
April 29, 2010 --
City briefs: 'Lawnmower Run,' food drive,
gaming machines and more
-
July 15, 2009 --
City to receive $1 million for Fifth
Street and nearly $300,000 for other projects from state capital
plan
Other
information
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