Senator says dockside gambling might not happen for years

Monday, June 2, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

"Any attempt at dockside, any attempt at the expansion of gaming, is dead until Gov. (Jim) Edgar is out of office," said Denny Jacobs, D-East Moline.

But Rep. Joel Brunsvold, D-Milan, was more optimistic.

Brunsvold said he would try to pass legislation to legalize dockside in the fall legislative session. "What was maybe unworkable now, may be very workable later. But the thing is, how long can the boats last?" he asked.

"The problem is that you've got to get everybody to agree together, and that's not easy," Brunsvold said. "Every time we'd get an issue solved, we'd always run into another road block."

Brunsvold said this is probably the most difficult issue he has worked on in 15 years. He said he worked on plenty legislation this spring, but the rest of his agenda did not take one-tenth the time he devoted to gambling, and it wasn't even voted on. "It's very frustrating," he said.

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