Rockford Thinking Of Buliding A Casino

If you like to travel to the Chicagoland area or other places that offer gaming action at a casino, that drive may not have to be that long. 

WREX TV spoke to Democratic Senator Steve Stadelman and Republican Senator  Dave Syverson and both agree on one thing: A casino needs to come to Rockford.

Slot machines were legalized back in 2012. 450 of those machines are in the Rockford area. That is not enough according to Senator Syverson.

""Last year, about $1.5 billion of Illinois revenue went to the surrounding five states," said Sen. Syverson. "So, let's build facilities to allow people to stay in Illinois and bring people to Illinois."

There have been two bills that have failed. The Rockford Senator is currently working on a third bill, which if passed, will bring a casino to Rockford. There also could be more gaming machines at truck stops.

With the possibility of more revenue coming to the Stateline, there are some concerns about more gambling locally.

"It doesn't have any productive element to it," said Lee Schreiner of Rockford Urban Ministries. "It's just taking money out of people's pockets that they would spend on other legitimate activities like buying clothes for their kids."

Everything is still in the planning process, but the proposal could go to legislature as early as November.

Do you see a positive to a casino here in Rockford? Or is there more potential problems?