Illinois Lawmakers Provide a Path Forward for Racing

The Illinois Senate June 2 gave final passage to a massive gaming expansion plan that authorizes full casino operations at the state's three tracks.

The measure, sought for more than a decade by the revenue-starved Illinois racing industry, also would allow sports betting with a role for racetracks and new casinos in Chicago and several other downstate communities.

The bill now goes to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has been supportive and is expected to quickly sign it into law.

The legislation authorizes up to 1,200 gaming machines each for Arlington International Racecourse and Hawthorne Race Course and 900 for Fairmount Park in Collinsville, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. It also appears to authorize 900 machines for the long-shuttered Quad Cities Downs, which offered Standardbred racing in the Moline area, although that language is arcane.

It spells out distribution percentages for racetrack casino revenues, with sliding percentages guaranteed to purse accounts.

The bill also would do away with the "recapture" program, which allows tracks to take from purse accounts to replace revenue lost to full-card simulcasting. Horsemen loathe the provision, which took more than $7 million from the Arlington purse account in 2018.

"We are very pleased and grateful to legislators for voting to assist the racing industry and the thousands of people employed in it," said David McCaffrey, executive director of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "The bill's passage provides optimism and hope to an industry that had grown very depressed and bleak."

"This is a big win for everyone," said Arlington president Tony Petrillo. "We're busy reading through the 900-plus pages of the bill, sorting out the details." Petrillo said Arlington will announce its plans once the analysis is done.

Arlington's parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., already holds a majority interest in the state's biggest casino, located less than 15 miles from the track.

Illinois tracks have fought for alternative revenue sources for more than a decade, under several governors, as the state's racing and breeding industries have declined precipitously. Tracks in all other racing jurisdictions adjacent to Illinois receive purse support from gaming.

Two previous expansion plans passed the legislature only to fall victim to former Gov. Pat Quinn's veto pen. In the same time period, Quinn signed legislation authorizing slot machines at small businesses, fraternal clubs and other locations, effectively adding the equivalent of six new casinos across the state.

Quinn's predecessor, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was convicted and remains in prison in part for attempting to shake down the operators of two now-closed Illinois harness tracks.

Pritzker, a Democrat elected in November 2018, enthusiastically supported gaming expansion as a revenue source for a state infrastructure-improvement program. This year's legislation also benefited from the election of a new Chicago mayor, former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot, who needs new money to pump up a sagging city budget.

After all the years of wrangling, the issue was resolved in three days of intense negotiations involving Arlington, Hawthorne, Fairmount, the existing casinos, the city of Chicago, legislative leaders, the governor's office and downstate municipalities that long have sought gaming opportunities.

The Senate vote to concur with the House version of the bill was 46-10. The House passed the measure a day earlier on an 87-27 roll call. The bill includes a provision for emergency rule-making, potentially expediting implementation.