Video Gaming Coming Soon?

To sell bond buyers and lawmakers smart enough to use a calculator on a $34 billion construction spending bill Governor Pat Quinn signed the Video Gaming Act (Public Acts 096-0034, 096-0037 and 096-0038) making video gaming terminals legal in Illinois. The original wording of the lengthy bills attempted to preempt Home Rule communities from opting out of the program because at the time Illinois needed to borrow money just to make payroll so every penny of the $34 billion added to the debt.

At the same time the DeKalb city council was adding massive amounts of red tape to its local liquor laws. That initiative had consumed more than two years of staff, council and liquor commission time and resulted in the current alphabet soup license designations the city now has.

Almost simultaneous to the passage of the Video Gaming Act DeKalb was adding language to Chapter 38 of its UDO to strengthen its prohibition of gaming. Gambling was already illegal in DeKalb bars and liquor establishments. Trying to save wasted time and perhaps get DeKalb ahead of the curve on a new potential revenue source (projected by gaming proponents to be more than $200,000 per year for DeKalb) I alerted the city council to the passage of the bills. But true to form the city council placed higher priority on how long they take to get something done than what it is they’re actually doing. Adapt?

When I addressed the city council the three minute rule was in full effect. The city attorney would time members of the public addressing the council and ring a bell when their time was up. That made it a real challenge to address anything complicated. So either the mayor thought I was pushing to legalize gambling or he was playing his politics as usual. In either event I failed to get the council to recognize that they may be wasting time adding stronger language to ordinances that already prohibited gaming.

Meanwhile back in Springfield the Illinois Gaming Board was assigned the responsibility of implementing and regulating video gaming in Illinois. The Board was to promulgate administrative rules to provide guidance on matters such as  standards, testing requirements, application procedures and hearings. Whenever that happens a lot of middlemen are created. Rules promulgation is complete. A separate license is now needed for each video gaming terminal manufacturer, distributor, supplier, terminal operator, technician, handler and establishment. Combination licenses are prohibited. Each licensee may possess only one type of license.

And local establishments are not exempt from the add on fees associated with Home Rule. Municipalities may pass an ordinance prohibiting video gaming within its corporate limits as can the county board for  unincorporated areas of the county.

A 30% gaming tax is imposed on all monies put into a terminal (video game) minus credits paid out to players. Reportedly, the state will keep 25% and distribute 5% to the municipalities. It is said that the host establishments will make around 10% of the net proceeds although the language I’ve read states, “not withstanding any agreement to the contrary, the Terminal Operator and Establishment must split the after-tax profits from a Terminal 50/50.

The public may also hold a referendum proposing to prohibit video gaming. The petition for referendum must be filed in the office of the clerk (municipal or county) at least 90 days before the date of an election. The petition must contain the signatures of not less than 25% of the voters of the municipality or county. The clerk shall certify the proposition to the proper elections officials, who shall submit the proposition to the voters of the municipality or county. The proposition shall be in the following form: “Shall video gaming be prohibited in ______?” The choices “YES” or “NO” shall be selected by the voters. If a majority of the voters vote “YES”, video gaming shall be prohibited within the municipality or county. Petitions to prohibit video gaming shall be public documents.

For those keeping track as many as 10% of the voters in a municipality must sign a petition to hold a referendum to abolish Home Rule. Apparently the State’s bond buyers needed some assurances.