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House in no hurry to take up Senate's gaming bill

Posted September 19, 2007 11:00 pm

Doug Finke

When the state Senate Tuesday approved a massive expansion of gambling to pay for $13 billion worth of construction projects, several senators said they hoped the capital aspect of the plan would spur the House to also approve it.

That may have been wishful thinking.

Several rank-and-file House members said Wednesday they are in no hurry to embrace the gambling/capital package, even though it could mean millions of dollars' worth of road, school and other construction projects for their districts.

The legislation was worked out by Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Senate leaders without input from the House, they argue, and they want to give it careful review.

"None of us has been engaged by anybody," said Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield. "At some point, they have to focus on the House. What does it mean for our districts. At this point, I've had no input on this bill."

"It's just another idea of the 5,000 we vote on (each year)," said Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley. "It's good something has finally passed the Senate to give us the basis of discussion. I don't consider it any more than that."

The Senate overwhelmingly approved spending the $13 billion in state bond funds over several years for roads, school construction, university and community college projects, water projects, airports, state buildings and other infrastructure work.

The vote to pay for those projects - through expanded gambling - wasn't as overwhelming. The Senate voted 37-15 to place a land-based casino in Chicago, add two riverboat gaming sites at unspecified locations and allow existing casinos to expand. It's the gambling bill that could doom the entire package in the House.

"If money fell from the sky, we could do a nice capital bill," Hannig said. "The hang-up is how you pay for it."

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has repeatedly said he does not think such an expansive gaming plan can pass the House, and Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said Tuesday that Madigan told him the bill would never be called for a vote in the House.

However, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Wednesday the speaker will "take a look at the bill."

"We'll decide down the road," Brown said. "The history is the House has never shown much interest in a big gaming expansion."

Meantime, Brown said, the speaker is focusing his efforts on overriding budget cuts made by Blagojevich and passing a long-term mass transit funding bill that relies on a regional sales tax increase. The House will meet as a committee of the whole Oct. 1 to discuss the budget cuts. The veto session formally begins Oct. 2.

In Chicago Wednesday, Blagojevich held a news conference with labor leaders in hopes of pressuring the House into supporting the capital bill.

"I have every reason to believe that Speaker Madigan will work in a constructive way and has no interest at all in being the only person who stands in the way of getting things done for people," Blagojevich said. "I don't believe he's interested in just being against everything and not for anything."

Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who is one of the House's leading proponents of expanded gaming, noted that approving such a bill to pay for capital programs doesn't necessarily mean it has to be the one passed by the Senate. Expanding gaming requires complicated legislation, and Lang said there could be problems with the bill passed by the Senate.

"The devil is in the details," he said. "The bill passed with very little chance for review. I dare say, most of the senators didn't know what they were voting on."

Because of procedural technicalities, though, the House can only accept the Senate's gambling bill or reject it. The House cannot modify it and ask the Senate to accept the changes.

"Can we pass an expanded gaming bill similar to this? I believe we can," Lang said. "I don't know if this is a bill we can pass… We have been in a capital budget crisis for months. It can wait another month."

Mike Ramsey of GateHouse News Service in Chicago contributed to this report. Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.

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