Savior for the Capital Bill?

The problem, as I see it, is that the capital bill now faces the same Catch-22 the state lottery has been facing for decades. On the one hand, you have improvements to our state's infrastructure and the creation of new jobs, but on the other, you have the millions of dollars Illinois citizens stand to lose with gambling now available in local bars and restaurants.

This issue has caused more than a dozen communities to opt-out of introducing video poker to their neighborhoods, putting the benefits of the capital bill in serious jeopardy.

So is there a solution to this problem or is the capital bill doomed to fail before it really begins to take effect?

Last week, leaders from the Illinois horse racing industry came together to propose an amendment to the capital bill's video poker guidelines in an attempt to save the bill from possible failure.

The proposal asks the Illinois state legislature to allow the five horse tracks located in the state to take on the already community rejected video gaming machines.

"It's not an expansion in gaming, we want to be clear about that," stated Gary Mack, a spokesman for the Illinois harness racing industry. "It's a clear win-win for both sides. The capital bill gets its funding and the Illinois horse racing industry gets a much needed new revenue stream."

In the brief conversation I had with the harness racing representative--and no it wasn't over alcohol or beer nuts--Mack explained that horse racing in Illinois was suffering because so-called "racinos"--race tracks, with video gambling machines--were being legalized in other states, most notably in Indiana, and Iowa and that customers where leaving Illinois race tracks for these, more diversified, gambling Meccas.

So, not only would the transfer of the capital bill's unused video gambling machines to Illinois's race tracks save the bill's public works initiatives, it could potentially save Illinois's racing industry and the hundreds of jobs that the industry supports.

But back to the local Irish pub, what makes the racing industry's proposal so appealing to me is that it allows Illinois communities to reject the installation of video gaming machines in their bars and restaurants without the guilt of possibly helping to dismantle our state's economic recovery plan.

Gambling, especially video poker, doesn't belong in bars and restaurants--the risk of accidental problem gambling is too high in such an environment. Instead moving some of the video poker machines to race tracks--heavily regulated places, where people are already coming for the express reason to gamble--seems like not only a financially smarter move but a morally more appropriate one.

Video poker: more at home in the casino than the local watering hole

So far the proposal has been met with mixed results from the Illinois state legislature. While Gov. Quinn has stated that the option might be worth looking into, a spokeswomen from Senate President John Cullerton's office told me that the state senator doesn't see a need to abandon the original plan quite yet, and that the bill's funding provisions were written under the assumption that some communities would opt-out.

I understand that important economic plans should be given a fair chance to flourish, but when presented with a counter proposal that could perhaps save more revenue and jobs, why not take a serious look at it?

We'll see if the proposed amendment can make its way through Springfield this Spring. Until then, I'll raise a glass to economic recovery and appropriate decision making.

This is for you Capital Construction and Economic Recovery Bill!