Illinois leader: Slots can help pay for schools

Nicole Ziegler Dizon

Friday, April 1, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

OAK PARK, Ill. -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich, in his first public call for gambling expansion, proposed more than doubling the number of slot machines and gambling tables allowed at Illinois' nine riverboat casinos to increase funding for schools and pay for tougher graduation requirements.

Lawmakers and Chicago officials have lobbied for additional casinos to raise tax revenue, but Blagojevich said Thursday that he would only support more gambling at the exisiting riverboats.

He proposed allowing a total of 23,000-24,000 gambling positions at the casinos -- up from the current 11,000. The additional tax revenue would pump $300 million into schools, he said.

Following the lead of several other governors who have recently raised high school graduation standards, Blagojevich also proposed requiring Illinois students take at least two years of science, three years of math, and two writing-intensive courses in high school. Currently, students are required to take only one year of science and two years of math, and there is no specific writing requirement.

The proposal would include algebra and geometry in the math requirements.

"Higher standards and the money to put them in place -- that's the key to success," Blagojevich said during an appearance at Oak Park and River Forest High School.

The additional tax money would primarily go toward increasing the "foundation level," the lowest amount schools must spend per student, by $240 to $5,204. It is still less than the $250 a year Blagojevich promised during his campaign would go toward increasing the level.

A lobbyist for riverboat casino owners said they would have little interest in additional gambling capacity if the governor sticks to his plan to extend a 2003 tax increase that tops out at 70 percent of their revenues -- the highest in the country. Last year, the state collected more than $700 million in casino tax revenue.

"This will not work if the 70 percent tax stays in effect," said Tom Swoik of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association. "If the tax rolls back, then I think that is probably a very good plan."

In Springfield, a spokeswoman for Democratic Senate President Emil Jones said Blagojevich discussed the idea with Jones before announcing it Thursday, but she said Jones was not involved with the plan.

When the governor unveiled his budget proposal in February, Jones blasted it for including too little for schools. He and the governor also have been at odds over Jones' call to allow a casino in Chicago.

The plan the governor announced Thursday would mean a total increase in state education spending of $440 million next fiscal year, up from the $140 million increase he originally proposed.

"He's glad to see that the governor recognizes that we need more revenue for education," said Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer. Jones, she said, "still certainly plans to proceed with his plans for a casino for Chicago."

Blagojevich promised on the campaign trail that he would oppose any expansion of gambling, and he rebuked lawmakers in the past for proposing it. But he said Thursday that his proposal would infuse money into schools without bringing gambling to communities where it does not already exist.

The Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, said Blagojevich's plan is a huge expansion, even if he doesn't want to admit it.