COLLINSVILLE -- State Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, introduced a $24 billion program to upgrade Illinois bridges, roads and schools and expand gaming during a press conference Thursday.
The program would create 694,000 new jobs statewide, while providing much needed maintenance and repairs to the state's bridges, Hoffman said.
Hoffman said he planned to introduce the bill authorizing the capital program into the House on Monday. He said he expected Emil Jones, the Senate president, to bring the matter up when the statehouse veto session begins during the first week of October.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich supports Hoffman's capital projects proposal, according to Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for the governor.
One of the program's top aims is to "make sure what happened in Minnesota does not become a reality here in Illinois," Hoffman said, alluding to the Aug. 1 collapse of an interstate bridge in Minneapolis that killed 13 motorists.
Money for Hoffman's capital program would come from $7 billion in federal matching funds, bond sales and $1 billion per year in new tax revenue expected to arise from a massive expansion of the state's casino industry.
Two new casino licenses would be created, bringing to 12 the total number allowed under state law. Meanwhile, the number of gaming positions -- most likely slot and video poker machines -- authorized per casino would jump from the current 1,200 to at least 2,000.
If passed into law, Hoffman's capital program would more than double the number of betting devices allowed in Illinois casinos -- from the 9,600 housed at nine venues, to 24,000 if a 10th license is awarded; though authorized, it's been tied up in litigation for years -- plus the two new casino licenses envisioned by Hoffman.
"The idea would be utilize existing casino licenses and expand their ability to increase and compete with existing states," Hoffman said during the news conference at the headquarters of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 309.
The casino expansion promoted by Hoffman would not only make the state's gaming industry more competitive with neighboring states, but also protect jobs at the race tracks, he said.
At least 3 percent of gambling revenue would be used to subsidize the state's horse racing tracks, including Fairmount Park, Hoffman said.
But gambling foe the Rev. Tom Grey warned that any casino expansion would open the door to more problems gambling brings, including bankruptcies, crime and corruption.
"If you do the math, the winners" in a casino expansion "are the casino owners and the politicians who get their money, and the losers are the taxpaying citizens that pick up the bill," said Grey, a Chicago-area Methodist minister who serves as executive director of the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion.
The rights for the two new casino licenses envisioned under Hoffman's plan would be auctioned off, with each one fetching hundreds of millions of dollars apiece, Hoffman said.
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