Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has a tough job in front of her. Her city is desperate to drum up a new source of tax revenue; a problem that would seemingly be solved by Illinois’ gambling expansion bill, which would see a new potential casino in the Windy City. Problem is, analysts don’t expect a private operator to be attracted to the city, due to the tax structure laid out by the bill.
The Chicago Tribune reports Lightfoot went to the state capital, Springfield Illinois, to fight for a better tax structure for a Chicago based casino. By all reports, she didn’t get what she wanted.
At a press conference following the meetings, Lightfoot stressed how badly Chicago needs to get this deal done, as bond ratings agencies are nipping at their heels:
“We’ve got our work to do, but I feel like, particularly over the course of the last three-plus weeks that we’ve been working literally every single day on this, that we’ve made significant progress. Now, whether that progress turns into enough votes to get it passed out, that remains to be seen, but we’re certainly working very hard on that, along with others, to identify and address any lingering concerns.”