Syverson frustrated with progress on implementing gambling expansion in Illinois – The Center Square

(The Center Square) A leading proponent of last years gambling expansion bill in Illinois said he is frustrated with delays in its implementation.

State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, said officials from Rockford submitted that citys proposal, with a casino to be operated by Hard Rock International, to the Illinois Gaming Board nine months ago.

The gaming board is telling us they hope to have the license approved by October, which is 12 months from the time it was submitted, Syverson said. It is just ridiculous that it's taking this long for a group just to review a simple application.

Recent COVID-19 restrictions have left casinos and video gaming facilities shuttered across the state. But Syverson said the COVID-19 pandemic shouldnt be used as an excuse for the delay.

With the casinos closed and the video gaming closed, you have 250 employees that are sitting around doing nothing, Syverson said. The staff that's working on the application, they're still there, they're still being paid. In addition, you have all this other staff with nothing to do who could have been assisting them in getting it done. COVID should not have slowed it down, it should have helped them to expedite their work.

Adding to the frustration is what Syverson says is a restriction on any preparatory work being done on the site of the proposed casino or even at the site of the temporary casino, which would operate while the new facility is being built.

We've asked [the Gaming Board] if the location can, at their own expense, start doing some development, Syverson said. Can they do the land work? Can they work on getting the sewer laid? Can they do that stuff now, while the weather is good, so they can get a jump on it? And the gaming board said, No, you can't. You can't lift a shovel on that property, or we're going to cancel that contract. So it's really ridiculous.

The bill, signed into law one year ago by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, allows for up to six new casinos across the state. Syverson argues says the applications for Rockford and for downstate Williamson County should be the simplest for the board to consider, both having already determined which casino operator will be selected.

They're both desperately waiting, Syverson said. The other applications are more complicated. Why not just take the easy ones that are clean, get those two done and approved and get them up and operating, and then work on the other applications?

Complicating matters for the Rockford site specifically is another proposal for a mega-casino just north of the Wisconsin border in Beloit. That plan now has been approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is waiting for a final sign-off by Gov. Tony Evers.

If Beloit opens up first, you're going to get people that are going to go there and they may be comfortable going there and they may continue to go there even after Rockford opens up, Syverson said. We could have easily beat them to the punch. But, obviously, the gaming board doesn't seem to care.

The law requires the Gaming Board to provide a decision on an application within twelve months of submission. For Rockford, that means an October deadline, but Syverson said he worries that late date could push the start of construction into 2021 and the opening of the casino to 2022.

It's just sad that this is something we could have had opened and generating revenue for local governments, generating revenue for the state, creating jobs, he said. It's like they just don't care about doing things that are going to help us kick-start our economy to get it back going well.