An Illinois politician will attempt to overturn a vetoed gambling expansion bill in the upcoming lame duck session. Senator Terry Link, D-Waukegan, sponsored the gambling expansion bill that was vetoed by Governor Pat Quinn after the Senate passed it on a 30-26 vote. The Chicago Tribune quotes Link as stating: “I’m very optimistic that something will be done. I don’t know if it’s an override, (or) a new bill. Something will be done”.
The original bill was six votes away from overriding the veto and Link will be hoping to gain some headway in this regard. There are 21 “lame ducks” in the Illinois House and 15 in the Senate meaning there’s some definite room for movement. If passed the bill will bring a casino to the city of Chicago with jobs and taxes coming with it.
Florida’s legislature might not look at a casino bill for another whole year with “mega-casinos” unlikely to see the light of day for a few years yet. Senate President Don Gaetz’s new gambling examination committee is thought to be the stumbling block with Gaetz telling WLRN: “We need to have a thoughtful approach to this. We need to make sure that we know what we’re doing before we either regulate or deregulate any aspect of gaming and certainly before anything is expanded.”
Tallahassee attorney Mark Dunbar has been advising his clients that they need to be patient and added: “I’ve pretty much told them that you’re going to see a one year moratorium on anything related to gambling. The best thing to do is take advantage of that time to work with the legislators as they go on basically what’s going to be a listening tour.”
