Illinois gambling-expansion bill may be pushed into summer

An effort to approve a Chicago casino and other new casinos throughout Illinois to generate much-needed revenue could be pushed into the summer.

Rikeesha Phelon, a spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton, said the bill sponsor planned to present it in a Senate committee Thursday, but later decided the bill wasn’t ready.

It’s now unlikely the measure will advance before the Legislature adjourns Sunday.

The legislature’s passage of a gambling-expansion bill will determine whether the Casino Queen in East St. Louis buy the Fairmount Park horse-racing track in Collinsville.

The Casino Queen plans to buy Fairmount Park if the state approves a gaming expansion that would allow slot machines at the horse-racing track.

Phelon said lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow Chicago to keep all casino revenue for seven years,.

It would add casinos in Chicago’s south suburbs, Rockford, Vermilion County and Lake County. It also calls for smaller “satellite” casinos that could be located in Decatur and far southern Illinois.

This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Illinois gambling-expansion bill may be pushed into summer."