The Sycamore City Council has approved a proposal to allow video gamblingin certain establishments, including bars and fraternal organizations. A 2009 state law gives local governments the authorityto permit or ban the machines, regardless of the state's decision to legalize them.Sycamore is among several communities across the statedeciding whether or not to allow video gambling.
Meanwhile, a northern Illinois lawmaker says more capital construction projects will soon get off the ground…now that the video gambling launch is near. Democratic Representative Frank Mautino of Spring Valley calls it a key funding component of a massive infrastructure program:
“The reason that we haven’t let more of the projects loose is because over the past two years, there has not been a regulation structure in place.” - Rep. Frank Mautino
That’s about to change. The Illinois Gaming Board says a computer monitoring system is being tested. Officials say if all goes well…gambling machines in licensed establishments could be up and running this fall. Over the summer, Governor Pat Quinn signed a measure authorizing another $1.6 billion in construction spending as part of the capital plan.