For Immediate Release

May 23, 2016 

Washington, D.C. – Americans for Tax Reform’s Center for Worker Freedom (CWF) believes putting Chicago’s future in the hands of a gambling mayor is a bad bet.

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R) made remarks Monday, May 16^th about being open to allowing for a government-run Chicago casino, as proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. 

Proponents of the casino argue that the revenue generated would be put towards paying down pension debt. Rauner called Emanuel's plan a “grand bargain” or “grand compromise.”

In response to Governor Rauner’s comments, CWF Executive Director Matt Patterson released the following statement:

"A government-run casino in Chicago wouldn't even begin to solve Chicago's debt crisis.  And as long as politicians continue to entertain ridiculous notions like this, they will put off making the hard decisions they need to make to put the city and state in the black.”

Patterson also questioned who would really benefit from Emanuel's scheme:

"We suspect the Mayor's buddies at UNITE HERE, the powerful service union that backed his re-election, would be awarded the jobs, only adding to Chicago's public pension obligations."

CWF has released a video informing Chicago taxpayers about the unintended consequences of a government-run casino, and created dontgambleourfuture.com, a website that connects people to Governor Rauner’s office.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Paige Halper at (202) 785 0266 or phalper@atr.org.

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