CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- Legal video gaming terminals still appear to be on track for Chicago's bars and restaurants, after a hearing on a new bid to block them abruptly ended here Wednesday.
Chicago aldermen looking for an alternative to Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed corporate "head tax" on the city's biggest employers passed a budget back in December that included money from video gambling terminals in bars and restaurants. State regulators have now issued the first licenses for legal gaming terminals, and they're considering hundreds more.
But the mayor, who neither signed nor vetoed the budget, and his supporters on the City Council have expressed reservations about how legalized video gambing could affect the city, and its agreement with Bally's over the operation of Chicago's casino. Members of the council's Workforce Development Committee are now considering a proposal that would ban neighborhood video gambling in favor of letting the city open new talks with Bally's on increasing hiring at the casino.
During the committee's hearing Wednesday morning, Bally's senior vice president Christopher Jewett told members that allowing bars and restaurants to operate video gambling terminals would lead to a projected reduction in employment at Bally's of as much as 1,000 jobs, as well as reduced revenue for Chicago's under-funded police and fire pension funds. "It will hurt the city's finances for years to come," Jewett said.
He's proposed setting up gambling lounges at Chicago's two airports as a way to replace the revenue provided by the licensing of video gambling terminals.
But Far South side Ald. Anthony Beale, who's been fighting to legalize video gaming terminals in the city for years, bashed the committee hearing as a "waste of time and resources," and suggested that estimates dealing with a potential loss of jobs and revenue at Bally's as "speculative at best."
"This is a circus," said Ald. Beale (9th Ward).
He then abruptly moved to adjourn the meeting, which passed.
It's not clear when - or whether - the proposal will get a vote.
Proposal would block machines legalized in budget
Proposal would block machines legalized in budget
