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Madigan signals concerns about casino-capital plan

Posted September 26, 2007 11:00 pm

Mike Ramsey

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Wednesday announced public hearings on a Senate-approved casino expansion he continues to question.

The Senate last week approved a public-works program that would generate $25 billion in spending for roads, schools and other projects. Central to the plan's funding would be three new casinos, including a publicly owned gaming venue for Chicago.

Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, emerged from a meeting with Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other legislative leaders and declined to say whether he would support the measure if it surfaces in the House. But he stressed the plan would trigger a 30 percent increase in the number of licensed casinos in Illinois.

Madigan said the proposal also would more than double the number of gaming "positions" at the state's casinos, possibly giving Illinois and the Chicago region the nation's second-highest concentration of gambling, behind Las Vegas.

"I don't think that the people of Illinois have had an adequate opportunity to learn what's in this bill," Madigan told reporters as he exited the meeting, at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago.

Madigan said the House will hold hearings in Chicago and Springfield, but he did not have dates scheduled. He left the leaders' meeting early, after spending nearly an hour there, citing another appointment on his schedule.

Blagojevich exited ahead of the remaining attendees about an hour later and portrayed the gathering in positive terms.

He said there was consensus "between all of us" on the proposed Chicago casino. Madigan spokesman Steve Brown later said a city-owned casino "would be OK" with the speaker, though he wants to scrutinize the larger gaming package.

As for the size of the capital plan, Blagojevich said everybody but Madigan can accept it. Along the same lines, the governor said he, the Republican legislative leaders and Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, agree the legislature should consider the funding problems of Chicago-area mass transit agencies, as lawmakers work out a capital program.

"There are still issues that have to be resolved - means rather than ends," the governor said. "But I would characterize this meeting as perhaps the most constructive and productive meeting we've had among the leaders and me all year long."

Blagojevich is against a proposed increase in the regional sales tax that provides operational funds for Chicago's commuter trains and buses. Madigan said he backs a transit-related bump in the sales tax, but legislation authorizing a quarter-cent increase failed in his chamber this month.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego said support for the tax hike may be eroding, now that Cook County government is set to consider a 2 percentage-point increase in the local sales tax.

Cross called Wednesday's meeting of leaders to hammer out a final capital plan, which needs a three-fifths majority - and bipartisan support - to pass the General Assembly. He declined to say whether three new casinos would be too many, but said participants discussed other potential revenue sources to help fund a capital program; Cross would not elaborate.

Jones, the Senate president, said the gaming expansion his chamber passed was meant to capture market share that is leaking to Indiana casinos.

Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, was out of state but monitored the meeting by phone. Standing in for him in Chicago was state Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont.

Madigan's appearance, even for a portion of the meeting, was considered significant because he has been feuding publicly with Blagojevich over a variety of issues this year, including a legal dispute about the special sessions the governor has sought to impose on lawmakers.

Madigan's attorneys on Tuesday challenged an administration lawsuit that contended House members must follow the governor's directions about the day and time of the sessions. Madigan's side also sent a scathing letter to lawmakers suggesting Blagojevich has displayed "incipient tyrannical behavior."

Madigan sounded a cordial note Wednesday and said the attorneys who drafted the documents included "a lot of lawyer language."

"I think it was a pleasant meeting," he said of his encounter with Blagojevich, "and most importantly, I wished him well with the Cubs."

"I appreciate him wishing me luck on the Cubs," the governor later said. "(Madigan), of course, is a (White) Sox fan and I'm a Cubs fan, and we can't let differences like that keep us from doing the public good."

Mike Ramsey can be reached at (312) 857-2323 or ghns-ramsey@sbcglobal.net.

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