South suburban officials are worried that the Illinois Gaming Board will delay a decision on awarding a license for the Southland’s long-awaited casino.
The board’s Sept. 17 session is the final regularly scheduled meeting before an Oct. 28 deadline for awarding a license. However, the board may extend the deadline, even though the date is specified in the 2019 gaming expansion legislation, lawmakers said.
“There is some language in the act that would allow for a delay,” said state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights. “It could be a significant delay.”
DeLuca and Kristi DeLaurentiis, executive director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, recently sent a letter to gaming board members urging them to award a license during the board’s Sept. 17 meeting.
“It affects not only the individual applicants but all of the 43 communities that are part of the revenue-sharing agreement,” DeLaurentiis said…Please click here to read Ted Slowik’s column in the Tribune/Daily Southtown.
See a related story, Illinois Gaming Board Should Award Casino License in September, South Suburban Officials Insist, in CasinoGamesPro.