Horse racing, Sox stadium, insurance for the uninsurable

Conventional wisdom held that when the General Assembly returned for the fall veto session little would happen. Again, the General As-semhly defied convention. Gov. James R. Thompson fashioned coalitions to support construction of a new stadium for the Chicago White Sox and pushed through changes to boost the horse racing industry. And Atty. Gen. Neil F. Hartigan and Sen. Howard W. Carroll (D-l, Chicago) joined forces to pass state-subsidized health insurance for the uninsurable.

The state price tag for the stadium is an annual subsidy of up to $5 million. Tax breaks given race tracks will trim state revenues $15 to $30 million. Nobody is sure what the health insurance plan will cost. Approval of the stadium and horse racing packages became linked during a hectic final week of negotiations that at times resembled a typical end-of-session deadlock. Thompson huddled with legislative loaders and representatives of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, the White Sox and Arlington Park owner Richard L. Duchossois, while rank-and-file legislators and everyone else waited.

Republicans supported the racing proposal, which is supposed to boost racing purses and eventually help Illinoisans who raise horses or work on farms. The state objective was to convince Duchossois to rebuild Arlington Park, which burned in 1985. The track owner had proposed a larger facility on a new site in Lake County, freeing up the old site for some other development. Even when lawmakers reluctantly allowed Duchossois an extra 2.5 percent of winning off-track bets on races at his track, it was not enough to build the larger Lake County track. Instead, he says, he will build a "world class" facility at the former site.

Although it didn't offer enough for Duchossois, the complex package offered plenty for many. Off-track betting, called intertrack wagering in the bill, provides the extra money. Each track will be permitted two facilities — something on the order of a restaurant or lounge with live television broadcast of races and windows where patrons can bet. Local governments would get 2 percent of the money bet and could impose a two dollar per person tax on admissions, raising an estimated $28 million. Another 1 percent of the intertrack bets would be used for racing promotion, agricultural programs and Cook County museums. Tracks would have to annually pay $500,000 to charities and $250,000 to Gambler's Anonymous. There are safeguards, too, for those worried about drugged horses and rigged bets. Security measures include detention barns in which horses must be kept prior to racing and stricter standards for track personnel.

As a result of the new off-track betting, track owners could see $51 million in new revenues, and horsemen could see purses increased by $28 million, according to estimates provided lawmakers.

The state will see less money, however, because it will halve its effective tax "rate on betting at the track. Numbers are imprecise because the amount of off-track betting and the extent to which it will cut attendance at tracks is unknown. Using Illinois Racing Board preliminary figures, the General Assembly's Economic and Fiscal Commission says revenues could be trimmed by half, or $25 million when state tax reductions are fully implemented in 1989.

Commission executive director Paul G. Vallas also thinks that off-track betting will attract some who now play the lottery, further reducing state revenues. Patrick F. Healy, executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission and an opponent of off-track betting, agrees. "There's only so many people and so much money you've got to gamble," Healy says. He points out that the lottery returns to the state more than 40 cents on a dollar, whereas horse racing returns closer to a penny. Rebecca Paul, who oversees the state lottery, says the two appeal to different people and thinks there will be no significant effect.

While racing interested the Republicans, the Democrats and especially supporters of Mayor Washington, wanted to keep the White Sox in Chicago. The package that emerged from a negotiating session between Thompson and Washington's emissaries called for creation of a seven-member authority appointed by the two. Thompson would name the chairman.

The authority would be authorized to issue $120 million in bonds to pay for construction of a 45,000-seat open air stadium next to Comiskey Park. A $4 million annual lease by the White Sox, a 2 percent Chicago hotel and motel room tax and up to $5 million each from the state and the city would retire the bonds.

The horse racing-stadium coalition was hardly an enthusiastic one. Legislators were held in session an extra day to allow the final touches to be rolled into the agreements. The now-linked issues came up first in the upper chamber. Senators took up horse racing, deemed it an economic development question, listened as some expressed regrets over off-track betting and approved the proposal 37-16.

The stadium bill did not go so easily. Some senators worried about precedent and suggested a covered multiteam stadium might not be more suitable. Others urged the matter be considered during the regular session and called the team owners "hustlers." With the bare minimum 30 votes the measure was approved.

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Attention then turned from the Senate to the House, where the stadium issue came up first. It fell six votes short of the 60 needed for approval, and there was talk of going home and coming back in January. Instead Thompson lobbied Republican legislators on the House floor. An hour later, with 10 gubernatorial converts, a second vote on the stadium passed. "I simply reminded some of the members it would be very difficult to vote against the White Sox and ask Democrats to support them on horse racing," Thompson said later. After the stadium vote, the horse racing deal was also approved, with the bare minimum 60 votes, and everybody went home.

As for the coalition which pushed through health insurance for the uninsurable, it was longer in the making and held together better under the pressure of the final days of the veto session.

As sent to the governor, who said he would sign the measure, it offers persons denied coverage the opportunity to join a state pool. They would pay 135 percent of the average rate for coverage, and the state would make up any losses. When it becomes effective on January 1, 1988, the programs is supposed to reduce state medical assistance costs.

The health plan represents the fusion of several individual efforts and the assumption of a leadership role by Hartigan and his Disabled Advocacy Division. Senate sponsor Carroll says he first became interested from the personal experience of a new attorney in his law firm. Hartigan's office discovered the problem when querying attorneys and disabled consumers about issues. In the spring Hartigan approached sponsors of five separate bills dealing with the issue and urged a united effort. One of those was Sen. Bob Kustra (R-28, Glenview), who had read about the problem two years before, done some research and was sponsor of a bill languishing in committee. As a minority member he says he had little choice and signed on as a co-sponsor of Carroll's bill. Kustra says the law was the best that could be passed this year but worries about costs both to individuals and the state.

Kustra credits Hartigan with gettingthe measure through the House. "If he had the put together such an effective statewide network, [House Speaker Michael J.] Madigan would not have capitulated," Kustra believes.

Barely had the measure won final approval in the House when Hartigan was describing the bill as "a great step forward for the state of Illinois."

Two days later Thompson exuded similar legislative praise following passage of the racing and stadium bills. Flanked by the racing kingpins, White Sox owners and Mayor Washington's negotiators, the governor told reporters, "It shows we're not afraid to take on difficult tasks."

Difficult tasks? The legislature is suposed to rewrite the education fundi formula this spring. That will take courage.

26/January 1987/Illinois Issues