Today the Illinois Senate President took steps to repeal the 2009 state law that authorized video gambling machines in restaurants and bars. The law, which was once thought to be a major source of revenue, has run into countless complications and has yet to generate any money. Now Senate President John Cullerton (D) is taking steps to reverse the law.

Today Cullerton attached an amendment to an existing bill that would repeal the law that was originally believed to be the source of $534 million for the $31 billion capital program for Governor Pat Quinn (D). The measure has yet to have a hearing.

After the controversial video gambling law was introduced, it has had nothing but obstacles. The city of Chicago refused to issue permits for the gambling machines within city limits. A total of 80 local governments entirely opted out of the plan. Then in January of last year, a state appeals court ruled that the law authorizing the video gambling machines, along with other parts of the capital program, was unconstitutional.

A Senate committee is set to debate a revised revenue bill that is made up of all of the revenue-generating programs in the original capital program, with the exception of the video gambling. That way, the other parts of the package can be passed without worrying about a repeal of video gambling in the state.

Zack Stamp, a lobbyist for the Coin Machine Operators Association, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was “surprised to see this. We had no indication that this was coming.” He also said that “people have been out there working on the assumption this would be the law. They’ve invested millions of dollars, hiring people. People have been anticipating this coming online, and this will cause a great deal of problems if repealed.”

A spokesperson for Cullerton said that the plan “has yet to generate a single dollar” and Cullerton is “gauging whether there is sufficient support to repeal it.”

Tags: Illinois casinos, video gambling