Illinois Considers Gambling Expansion Amid Budget Shortfall

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00:00All right, so now let's follow up and ask the same question about Illinois.

00:05We've been talking about them, by the way, through the end of the year into this year

00:08too.

00:09What are their chances of getting this done?

00:11This one is also interesting because now you've got Governor JB Pritzker saying, this is something

00:16we should consider.

00:18And it comes as he's probably working on his budget that needs to be proposed by February.

00:24And they're going to have something like a $3 billion budget shortfall.

00:28So they need revenue, and a representative who has introduced bills in the past says

00:34this is a great way to raise revenue.

00:37The senator who was speaking of it has introduced it both of the previous two sessions.

00:44They run two-year lengths, so 2021 and 2023, and I assume she will again this year.

00:49But with Pritzker saying, this is something we should consider, you have to think that

00:54carries some weight in Illinois.

00:56We know Pritzker is a fairly friendly person to gambling.

01:00They've opened up sports betting since he took office.

01:03They've added some new casinos to the state.

01:06It's not all friendly.

01:07They did raise the taxes to a tiered level based on your revenue for sports books last

01:14year.

01:15So it's not all friendly, but JB Pritzker is very friendly to the industry.

01:18So it'll be interesting to see if he does, in fact, include this in the budget, or maybe

01:22they go about it the other way with just straight legislation.

01:26Again, something interesting to watch.

01:29Again, there are plenty of headwinds against this.

01:34The public is kind of wary about the expansion into gambling, having sports books already.

01:41You might see some more responsible gambling action in Illinois as well, just kind of to

01:45say, hey, we're going to pay attention to this, as well as expand it a little bit more.

01:50But the expansion is important to keep it regulated and in the public eye.