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Gambling opponents argue against expanding gaming to pay for construction

As lawmakers get ready to place their bets on expanded gambling to raise cash for a major construction program, some anti-gambling advocates worry they're not fully considering the negative side effects of their actions.

Lawmakers are looking to legalize video gaming machines in places like bars and truck stops and create online lottery ticket sales as ways to pay for a $26 billion statewide construction program.

They could be voting on the idea as early as Wednesday, with some saying they don't like expanded gambling but see it as necessary to end a long stalemate on a construction program.

Advocates say that attitude is dangerous.

"I know the trade-off is we are going to get roads, we are going to get school construction, but it is not worth the cost," Anita Bedell, the executive director of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems, said Tuesday at a Statehouse news conference.

That cost is a high rate of addiction and broken families, Bedell said.

Shaughneysy Small is a good example.

"I have seven children. Some have been affected by (gambling addiction). I was affected by it 40 years ago ... I couldn't pay my bills because I gambled," said Small, a retired reverend of the Capitol City Church of God in Springfield and former gambling addict.

ILCAAAP asked Gov. Pat Quinn to not reverse his past stance on gambling, citing a 2007 letter in which Quinn implored then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to oppose any expansion to gaming in the state.

But due to the state's severe budget deficit, Quinn hasn't ruled out more gaming in Illinois.

"The governor has serious concerns about expanding gambling in Illinois. However the

state is ... in dire need of new revenue sources," Quinn spokeswoman Katie Ridgway

said. "For that reason, the governor is open to considering some expansion of regulated gambling."

According to the American Gaming Association, Illinois would join Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota and West Virginia in allowing video gaming outside of casinos.

Tom Grey worries that Illinois is about to go down a slippery slope.

"In West Virginia, they started out with three (machines per establishment). And then bars started saying 'let's add another room.' And then they wound up with mini-casinos in residential neighborhoods," said Grey, a spokesman for StopPredatoryGambling.org.

West Virginia earned more than $189 million from taxes on video gaming in 2008, according to the West Virginia Lottery 2008 Annual Report. But Gov. Joe Manchin created a commission to explore if is necessary to scale back the 9,000 gambling machines allowed in the state.

Illinois could legalize up to 45,000 video poker machines, according to Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont. They would generate an estimated $375 million worth of revenue.

The state could also pull in extra revenue from selling lottery tickets online, a move that opponents say goes too far.

"This will go into every home, school, office, any place that has a computer, also on cell phones and BlackBerries. It is making it too accessible," said Bedell, who didn't offer any alternative funding suggestions.

While expanded gaming and online lottery sales may be a windfall of revenue for the state in the short-term, the long-term effects are hard to predict. Rev. Small believes future generations will pay the price.

"It's going to be my children and grandchildren that are going to get stuck on gambling. Maybe not today, but eventually because they're making it too accessible," Small said.

Eric Naing can be reached at (217) 782-3095 or eric.naing@sj-r.com . Andrew Thomason can be reached at (217) 782-6882 or andrew.thomason@sj-r.com .