Video Gambling Decision Expected Tonight

The is expected to vote tonight on a proposal to legalize video poker and other gaming machines.

In 2009, the state passed a law allowing video gambling, and placing it under the watch of the Illinois Gaming Board. The law also established a 30 percent tax on video gaming revenue, which will be split between the state and local governments – for every dollar that comes in, the state gets 25 cents and the local municipality gets five cents. The state money goes into the capital projects fund.

Illinois lawmakers envisioned a strong new revenue stream from video gambling, even though the law includes an opt-out provision for local cities and villages. But over the ensuing three years, another obstacle has come to light: many of those local municipalities (like Chicago) already have laws prohibiting gambling of any kind.

Oswego is one of them. Its anti-gambling law was passed on June 1, 1935, and if the village wants to allow video gaming in town, the board must first repeal that ordinance. Village staff has suggested replacing it with a few revisions to other existing laws, which would effectively ban all gambling except the video variety.

Whether to actually do so, however, has been a topic of some discussion among the board members. That discussion continued at last week’s meeting, but not before several supporters of video gaming weighed in.

Bob and Debbi Krzeminski, owners of the , said small businesses like theirs are doing everything they can to keep the doors open, and cutting off this avenue could send customers to neighboring communities that allow video gambling.

Debbi Krzeminski also said that video gaming machines are not the same as high-stakes gambling that you’d find in a casino. She said the machines provide private entertainment for people who want to put five or 10 cents into them – and they’re even more private since the state law demands the video gaming machines be placed in a separate, over-21 area of the establishment.

“Please look at it,” she said. “You are going to profit from it just like we are."

John Schwartz of the Oswego American Legion agreed. He said the Legion would see business going elsewhere – the VFW Hall in Montgomery, or the American Legion in Plano or Yorkville – if video gaming is not approved. And, he said, vendors may decide not to support places without video gambling.

But Village Trustee Jeff Lawson said he doesn’t see “hordes of people” playing these games now, and doesn’t believe that video gambling will make the difference between keeping the doors open or closing them. Lawson said he is opposed to video gaming, but did not elaborate on his reasons.

Trustee Gail Johnson said she “tried to take right and wrong out of the equation,” and look at the benefits of video gaming. She said individuals should have the right to spend money on this if they want to, and it will help businesses and bring in cash for the village.

“I don’t think this will be harmful to our community or our residents,” she said. “I’m trying to find the evil here, and I’m not seeing it.”

State law requires establishment owners to be licensed before they can host video gaming machines. The machines will be under the watch of the Illinois Gaming Board, and violating their rules would result in the confiscation of the machine, and felony charges. Machine owners are required to insure them as well.

Tonight’s meeting begins at 7 p.m., and is preceded by a committee of the whole meeting at 6 p.m. Both are free and open to the public.