Illinois Has the Slots but Not the Plan

Gambling News - July 27th, 2009 - Written by Glen

Illinois Governor, Pat Quinn, and his team of legislators have recently concocted a law to introduce legal video game terminals throughout different venues in the state. The new laws, along with surrounding states, were meant to add slot gaming to different locations around the state but the task has met a bump in the road. The slot machines are there, but regulation and taxation is a different story.

The government of Illinois has theorized that they will be linking the VGT's to a central server for accurate bookkeeping and tax purposes. Such high expectations come without a price, but the source of funding and the man power has not yet been decided upon or allocated. Thus far the only true source of income to fund this initiative comes from the future purveyors of slot gaming, but this has not proven to be enough.

The original idea was to have the whole affair up and running within two months time, but some suggest this is impossible. The network through which the terminals will connect has been deemed infinitely complex, the lack of manpower has also caused concern, and general funds are needed to facilitate the introduction of the games. All of these factors are causing the integration of slot gaming to falter, as the issue is now climbing a slippery slope.

Critics of the plan are seeking council members to ban the terminals from their jurisdictions. The law has given the power to ban these terminals to the local governments. Should they decide they do not want this form of entertainment in their community, they are allowed to stop gambling before it starts.

Opponents of the critics have said that the money for transportation issues, as well as the education issues, would prove invaluable. Passing up this cash would be detrimental, they say, and supporters think that, while the road is rocky, the ends will justify the means.