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Eager developers are now painting rosy images of vast new entertainment complexes — ones that are now allowed to break ground on land without any aquatic pretenses — costing hundreds of millions of dollars in this latest gaming growth, which Pritzker is banking on to help fund his signature $45 billion capital plan for statewide construction projects.
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That’s despite the fact casino admissions and revenues have steadily declined in Illinois over the last decade. And anti-gambling activists are preparing for what they say will lead to a surge in addiction.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Illinois will never be a gambling destination. It will be locals gambling away their social security checks.
He knows residents here are math challenged. Casinos in Illinois are populated by retirees in elastic waist bands and orthopedic shoes. Its not like a James Bond movie with 007 at the high stakes table!