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US – Texas and Illinois considering casino bills

By - 6 March 2017

Texas, the second largest state in the United States, and Illinois, the sixth most populous, are both looking at the economic benefits of introducing casino gaming with new bills this week.

Chicago is in the running to get its first ever casino as part of a proposal to expand gambling in Illinois that would see new casinos in six locations.

Casino licenses would also be introduced in the north in Lake County, in the south in Rockford, in the east in Danville and in the south in Williamson County.

The legislation would also allow existing casinos to expand their offer by adding 400 gaming positions and allowing four horse racing tracks to add slot machines along with Chicago airports.

Democratic Senator Terry Link of Waukegan, sponsor of bill SB7, believes setting up the industry in this manner would generate almost $1bn in stat up fees. The Chicago and south suburban sites would pay a license fee of $100,000 and $30,000 for each slot machine or seat at a live or electronic table.
The state’s most lucrative riverboat casinos are currently taxed at up to 50 per cent. The proposed legislation pitches the new casino tax at 16 per cent on table game revenue and 20 per cent slot machine revenue, giving estimated tax earnings of $560m.

In Texas meanwhile, a bill presented by State Representative Joe Deshotel is looking to introduce up to nine commercial casinos.

The state currently has one casino, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, located in Eagle Pass on Kickapoo tribal lands.

He said the bill would award ‘not more than nine casino gaming operator licenses’ to deserving operators, who would pay a tax of 18 per cent of their GGR. The bill asks for a voter referendum on changing the state constitution to allow commercial casino gambling.

The casino licenses would be located in Galveston, Jefferson and Nueces counties with three more going to existing racetracks in Bexar and Harris counties.

Last year, the Alabama-Coushattas controversially reopened its East Texas Bingo Hall despite the state saying it shouldn’t be allowed to. The tribe got permission from federal government who ruled it could operate Class II game on its sovereign lands.

The introduction of commercial casinos in the state would stem the gambling spend currently going to Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Louisiana, where Texans currently go to gamble.

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