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 "I find it curious that if the House and Senate vote for something,
... that they don't swiftly send it on to the governor," said Quinn
on Wednesday. "I am prepared to use (my veto powers). I have done it
in the past, but I don't have any particular plan right now."
With a special legislative maneuver, state senators are holding the
plan to add one casino in Chicago, two in its suburbs, and one each
in Rockford and Danville.
The governor has expressed skepticism about the legislation to add
five new casinos and expand gambling opportunities at racetracks and
Illinois' 10 existing riverboats, yet he has not said what changes
he would like to see in the bill. Quinn supports a new casino in
Chicago, but not the proposed casino in Danville. Also, he's all but
declared he will not allow slot machines at the racetrack at the
Illinois State Fairgrounds.
State Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, said he wants to give Quinn as
much time as he needs to become comfortable with the plan. Link has
met several times with the governor to discuss the gambling
expansion legislation, but Quinn has not said what he wants added or
removed from the proposal.
"We're actually helping him, in a sense, by not sending it to him,"
said Link, who helped write the casino legislation and shepherded it
through the Senate. "If the governor says, 'I'd like X, Y, Z,’ and
we can agree on X, Y, Z, then we would put it into a (new piece of
legislation), and right now it would all be done in the veto
session."
The fall veto session is scheduled for the last week of October and
the second week of November. Link said if there is an agreement with
the governor on the legislation, he expects action then.
In the meantime, local leaders who have been promised a casino are
waiting.
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Danville Mayor Scott Eisenhauer is scheduled to meet with Quinn on
Thursday. He said his meeting will be a chance to "sell" the idea of
a Danville casino to the governor and answer any questions Quinn
might have.
But Eisenhauer, who has been disappointed by past, failed attempts
to bring a casino to Danville, said he does not need to have an
answer from the governor when he leaves the meeting.
"We're very patient people, and we're not losing any faith," said
the mayor. "The only disappointment is that the longer this process
takes, the longer we have to wait to start generating money for the
state."
Quinn said that in addition to local leaders, he wants to meet with
Aaron Jaffe, chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, who has in the
past called the casino expansion plan "garbage."
Jaffe has said the legislation falls short because it selects
locations for the new casinos, a responsibility originally delegated
to the Gaming Board. He also has expressed frustration at the lack
of money for his regulators to oversee the new casinos.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT]
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