On Wednesday night, people for and against the bill met at a forum to weigh in on the bill, which would license five additional casinos in Illinois including a huge land-based one in Chicago.
"The house has only one thing to do-- which is get more people to lose more money in order to make any kind of profit. And since most of gamblers come from Chicago, it means local government has to cannibalize its own people to make money that would otherwise be spent somewhere else in the city," said the Rev. Phillip Blackwell, First United Methodist Church.
"People should not make a decision on this bill based on the word gaming or gambling. This bill is about putting people to work, at least 90,000 people... from this bil," said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie.
The forum was sponsored by the Better Government Association and the Union League Club.
