Riverboat liquor sales restriction rejected by state panel

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000 | 9:17 a.m.

The state Joint Committee on Administrative Rules voted 4-1 against the Illinois Gaming Board plan that would have allowed liquor sales on riverboats only from 9:30 a.m. to 4 a.m., an 18half hour period.

Committee members voted against the plan because it fell short of an earlier proposal that called for a 16-hour selling period, said Claire Eberley, a spokeswoman for the legislative panel.

The 12-member committee, which met in Chicago, is comprised of state legislators who are evenly represented by Republicans and Democrats as well as House and Senate members. Seven members were absent or did not vote.

"They rejected our efforts because they wanted it more restrictive," board spokesman Gene O'Shea said. "So now the board must refine its proposal."

Regulators have been weighing how to alter the rules on liquor sales, which allow drinking whenever riverboats are cruising, to conform with the legalization of dockside gambling. Critics contend that stationery riverboat casinos amount to last-chance saloons for patrons after land-based bars close for the night.

"They are currently selling liquor, depending upon the boat, between 17 and 22 hours a day," O'Shea said.

At its own meeting Tuesday, the Gaming Board reviewed a proposal to move Casino Rock Island to a 200-acre site four miles southwest of its present location near the Interstate 280 and Illinois 92 interchange. Owners of the 8-year-old casino bought the site in hopes of building a larger riverboat casino, spokesman Bill Renk said Monday.

At 13,200 square feet, the current casino is the smallest in the state and in the Quad Cities area.

While the new site would be one mile away from the Mississippi River, it would meet state gaming requirements because it would be on a waterway that is linked to the river, Renk said.