Backers fill video gaming hearing
By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@nwherald.com
WOODSTOCK – Supporters of video gambling in McHenry County showed their hand, a full house, at a Wednesday evening hearing.
The 90 people who attended the McHenry County Board Liquor and License Committee hearing, a mix of organized labor, restaurant and tavern owners and economic development agencies, implored the county board not to ban video gambling, as more than 20 state governments have done to date.
The most vocal supporters were union laborers, many from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, who said the $31 billion capital bill that video gambling will help finance would put them back to desperately-needed work. Supporters who spoke to the committee outnumbered opponents by about five to one.
“I’ve been out of work since January of this year,” said McCullom Lake resident Anthony Koczor, a Local 150 operating engineer. “I’ve heard about the social impact of gambling, but right now I’m having a financial impact, and I’m very close to losing what I’ve got.”
Springfield lawmakers in July approved video gambling to help pay for the state capital bill, but gave county and municipal governments the right to back out. The law allows bars, restaurants and other places that serve liquor to have up to five machines, with the state receiving 25 percent of the revenues.
The committee is recommending that the County Board put the question to voters in the February primary, and the board could vote as soon as its Oct. 20 meeting, said committee Chairman John Hammerand, R-Wonder Lake. Only voters in unincorporated areas would vote, because municipalities have control over whether they allow video gambling. Forty-four establishments hold a county license to serve alcohol and therefore could install the machines.
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, asked the County Board to pursue a referendum. He opposes video gambling as a way to raise state revenue and said the social costs of gambling would outweigh the benefits. Franks said Wednesday that he filed a bill last week to repeal it.
“It really comes down to what our vision is for McHenry County,” Franks said. “I don’t believe we want to see it as a place where government preys on its own citizens in order to pay for government operations.”
But the vision that many in the audience had was good construction jobs bringing back good roads. State Rep. Mike Tryon, R-Crystal Lake, said the capital plan includes more than $300 million in McHenry County projects, from the Algonquin Western Bypass to the full interchange at Interstate 90 and Route 47. Kief’s Reef owner Randy Kief told the committee that employed laborers would again have money to spend on lunches at his McHenry establishment.
“Video poker probably isn’t the complete answer to all of our problems, but it’ll give us a little bit of help,” Kief said.
Officials representing county business interests also supported video gambling if it meant funding a capital plan. Attorney Jim Bishop received applause when he said the plan would “cure the worst road system in the country.” He and others pointed out that gambling already was omnipresent in Illinois through riverboats, horse racing, Internet poker and the lottery.
McHenry County Economic Development Corp. President Pam Cumpata told the committee that a county ban would unfairly target unincorporated businesses, whose customers could go to establishments in municipalities with video gaming. The Lake in the Hills Village Board last month passed an ordinance approving up to five machines per eligible establishment and charging a $100-a-year fee for each machine.
But having the machines in Illinois establishments could be a long way away.
The Illinois Gaming Board was supposed to have video gambling rules set within 60 days of the legislation’s approval. It has yet to do so because it has neither the staff nor the funding to draft the rules, much less enforce them, said state Sen. Pamela Althoff, R-McHenry. Althoff said those rules could be at least six to nine months away, and that McHenry County should be “prudent, reasonable and cautious,” and not rush to action.
“There’s absolutely no reason we need to make a decision tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month,” Althoff said.
