n the closing days of the spring legislative session, because it became apparent state lawmakers were getting to approve a serious gambling expansion, the leading proponent of so-called Sweepstakes Machines began desperately hiring lobbyists during a last-ditch effort to avoid getting left on the sidelines.
Among those that agreed to advocate for legalization of the gambling devices was Frank Bass, a Statehouse veteran who got his lobbying start nearly 20 years earlier as a legislative liaison for Cook County government. […]
That’s an extended windup to urge to my main point, which is that Bass never registered to lobby on behalf of Collage or the sweepstakes folks.
Neither did former state Sen. Annazette Collins of Chicago, who sources tell me also was lobbying in support of the Sweepstakes Machines in those final days of May but has never officially disclosed it.
I wouldn’t have known anything about their involvement if I hadn’t been poking around.
First, we discover out that a sweepstakes machine company owner and Luis Arroyo bribed a senator who was wearing a wire. And now this.
Legislators should be up in arms about this unsavory industry. We’ve known about problems with sweepstakes for a short time now. Here’s a WBEZ story from last year
A WBEZ investigation found some bars that were deemed unfit for video gambling have simply installed Sweepstakes Machines instead.
In Streator, alittle city about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, you’ll gamble at Sweepstakes Machines during a tavern that was denied a license for video slot machines because state inspectors allegedly had uncovered multiple incidents of illegal sports gambling at that bar, records show. […]
The Illinois Gaming Board has maintained for years that Sweepstakes Machines are illegal. But efforts to clamp down on them have encountered legal roadblocks within the past year.
The murky laws have allowed more and more businesses to supply the machines to their customers, officials said, even in some seemingly unlikely places.
On Chicago’s Northwest Side, the Bubbleland coin laundromat at Elston and Kimball has three Sweepstakes Machines during a corner near the doorway . one among those machines issued a receipt to a reporter who placed a bet and won. The laundromat attendant took the receipt, disappeared behind a door, and quickly returned with cash winnings.House GOP Leader Jim Durkin and therefore the House Democrats’ gaming point person Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) both filed bills to outlaw the machines. Both bills went nowhere. The Senate Dems’ gaming point person Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) also wanted the machines outlawed. Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) features a new bill to ban the machines. one among its hyphenated co-sponsors is Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago).
There could also be more, but since businesses don’t require a license of any kind to put in one, it’s difficult for a town to stay track of what percentage exist. In Forest Park, establishments hosting Sweepstakes Machines – or any entertainment machines, for that matter – are alleged to purchase and display a village amusement sticker, but Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins said this rule isn’t always followed.