Illinois city OKs video gambling fee
The Bloomington City Council voted in favor of a US$500 annual video gambling fee.
US.- Bloomington, a city from Illinois, approved a US$500 annual licensing fee for each video gambling machine. The fee is set to take effect on May 1 and has to be renewed on that date every year.
The vote, which ended 5-4 in favor of the measure, would generate US$124.5k in additional revenue. This is based on the fact that there are 249 video gambling machines at 54 businesses in the city.
During the meeting several people urged the aldermen to vote against such measure. Residents and business owners expressed their opposition to the measure, and Aldermen Mathy, David Sage of Ward 2, Karen Schmidt of Ward 6 and Hauman agreed with them. However, the vote ended up approving the measure.
The House Rules Committee of Illinois will discuss sports betting
The House Rules Committee of Illinois will assess four amendments to a bill that would regulate the segment, in order to legalise it in the near future.
Rep. Zalewski and three other lawmakers proposed four amendments in order to set a regulatory model to follow. Three potential amendments would set a US$10 million licensing fee for operators to pay. The other one would give the state lottery the right to run sports betting in Illinois, leaving private operators out of the business.
