Illinois State Rep. Bob Rita desires the state legislature to take a serious look at online gaming and sports betting subsequent year, and for that he requirements allies.
he Blue Island Democrat will lead a series of hearings in a bid to develop consensus on on-line poker, online casino, every day fantasy sports, and sports betting ahead of the subsequent legislative session. He will also look to gauge whether there is an appetite within the legislature for casino expansion.
Rita has been the chair of the Illinois Home subcommittee on Gaming, Sales, as well as other Taxes since 2013. Because then he has spearheaded several attempts to expand gambling, which he believes will be the key to fixing the state’s alarming spending budget deficit, but to no avail.
In 2014, he was behind a doomed try to legalize on-line gaming, while comparable efforts in 2016 and 2017 also failed to acquire traction. On the last day of the 2017 legislative session, out from the blue, the Illinois Senate voted to legalize on-line casino and poker, however the Home had no opportunity to vote around the matter.
Rita has also spearheaded a longstanding push to authorize six new riverboat casinos in central Chicago, a few of its southern suburbs, Rockford, and Danville, whilst authorizing slots for the state’s ailing racetracks.
“As I’ve stated in the beginning in working on this problem, gaming expansion presents numerous tremendous possibilities to create income, jobs and economic development in Illinois,” Rita said inside a press release on Tuesday.
“The gaming landscape has changed significantly since I took on this problem 5 years ago, and I want to use these hearings to know how those modifications present new opportunities for us to place the right package together as we appear to meet spending budget requirements and provide a spark for our economy,” he added.
Meanwhile, the state’s Racing Board is plowing ahead with plans to introduce historical horse racing machines in the racetracks. These allow gamblers to location bets on races which have currently been run by playing reruns from around the world, while concealing the names from the horses and dates and locations from the races.
You will find legal questions about whether or not this would constitute gambling expansion, and therefore whether or not the board has the authority to authorize the machines with out going through the legislature. But based on board member Tom McCauley, desperate times call for desperate measures.
“The Illinois horse racing business is in a desperate economic condition. It is not hyperbolic to say that its viability is in doubt,” he stated.