CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- Bars and restaurants in Chicago that want to put in video gambling terminals might be able to install them faster, under a proposal that's received preliminary approval in City Council.
It'll be months before legal video gaming terminals start popping up at your favorite tavern, but the proposal that cleared a Council committee Monday would let business owners apply and pay for city licenses while state regulators review their applications.
The sponsor, North side Ald. Scott Waguespack, told colleagues it's similar to the process the city has used for decades with liquor licenses.
"It is not a novel idea to have a conditional license in this city. It's been going on for decades," Ald. Waguespack (32nd Ward) said. "This would again simply allow for a conditional license ... if someone fails, then they fail and the city retains the licensing fee."
This is also the latest move by the Council's self-titled Budget Accountability Coalition to spur the Johnson Administration to start collecting much-needed money from video gambling licenses. Members of the coalition who spurred the approval of this year's budget over the objections of Mayor Brandon Johnson have accused him of slow-walking some proposals.
Business affairs chief Ivan Capifali told aldermen he's concerned about the increase in workload on his staff: "The recently passed VGT (video gambling terminal) ordinance did not fully account for the operational burdens that it imposed."
And Bally's Chicago chief lobbyist Elizabeth Suever used the meeting to repeat the casino operator's opposition to legalizing gambling terminals: "Granting these VGT licenses will result in a total revenue reduction for the city."
Others including Downtown aldermen Bill Conway (34th Ward) and Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) expressed concern about the fate of an expected $4 million payment from Bally's that the casino says would be jeopardized by the city's decision to legalize video gambling.
Waguespack responded that the city would likely have to re-open its agreement with Bally's, but that its fate was unclear.
And North side Ald. Bennett Lawson said the debate over legalization is over: "The ship has sailed. We did pass it."
And he said allowing potential operators to apply for licenses while the state considers their applications would help speed up the process for "mom-and-pop" restaurants and taverns.
"We've raised all their license fees last year," said Ald. Lawson (44th Ward). We haven't thrown them a bone, and this is something that we can do to help."
It's now headed to the full Council.
'Conditional' approval measure clears committee
'Conditional' approval measure clears committee
