By Peter Hancock –
Efforts in the Illinois House to pass a bill authorizing land-based casinos took a sharp turn Monday when a key committee voted to strip out the contents of a Senate-passed bill and send it back to the full House in a form that lawmakers call a “shell bill.”
One source familiar with the negotiations said that likely means lawmakers are working on a single, “omnibus” gambling bill that will have provisions dealing with sports betting, expanded casino operations and possibly higher taxes on video gambling, all of which are items governor J.B. Pritzker and others in the General Assembly have suggested as ways to raise additional money for the State.
In its original form, Senate Bill 516 would have expanded the authority of the Illinois Gaming Board to regulate both riverboat gambling and “casino” gambling.
Under current law, “riverboats” are defined as self-propelled excursion boats or one or more permanently moored barges on which gambling is authorized or licensed. There are 10 riverboat casinos operating in Illinois.
A casino would be defined as any facility in which lawful gaming is authorized, meaning it would not have to be attached to a body of water. The bill would authorize existing riverboat casinos to relocate to other areas.
Immigration policy:
The Illinois House Monday passed and sent to the Senate a bill that would prohibit local governments and local law enforcement agencies from entering into certain kinds of agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to enforce federal immigration laws.
House Bill 1637, known as the Keep Illinois Families Together Act, would prohibit State and local law enforcement agencies from participating in ICE’s “287(g) program.” The name comes from a 1996 addition to the federal Immigration and Nationality Act that allows local law enforcement to be deputized into federal service to help identify, arrest and serve detainer warrants on foreign-born individuals with criminal charges or convictions.
— Capitol News Illinois