HR0710 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0710 LRB094 15026 AJO 50148 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Menominee tribe has proposed a casino in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that will be an $808 million facility with 3,200 gambling positions; and

WHEREAS, A large portion of the casino's customers will be Lake County residents, but all of the tax revenue, jobs, and other benefits from the casino will inure to the benefit of Kenosha, Kenosha County, and Wisconsin; and

WHEREAS, The Menominee have indicated that they will employ, on a priority basis, Kenosha and Southeastern Wisconsin citizens, leaving out hard-working Illinois residents; and

WHEREAS, The social costs from problem gambling will fall very heavily on those Illinois communities closest to the casino, but no funds will be made available to the State of Illinois or local governments in Illinois to address the impact of problem gambling; the result will be that Illinois citizens will be compelled to pay for problems caused by a Wisconsin casino; and

WHEREAS, The Menominee Tribe expects gamblers at the casino, most of whom will be from Illinois, to lose over $400 million a year; and

WHEREAS, When Illinois citizens gamble with their discretionary dollars, they will have less money to spend on dining, entertainment, shopping, and sporting events in Lake County and elsewhere in Illinois; this casino will adversely affect the livelihood of countless small businesses in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The casino project will greatly increase traffic on our already heavily traveled Illinois roads; this will have the greatest adverse affect on the environment of Lake County through increased air emissions and water runoff; and

WHEREAS, While these impacts will undoubtedly take place, the Bureau of Indian Affairs chose first in its scoping document and in its Draft Environmental Impact Statement to totally ignore these serious negative impacts on the Illinois communities near the casino; in fact, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement does not even discuss these negative impacts; not only is this wrong, but this approach violates the Bureau of Indian Affair's own policies; and

WHEREAS, Under Part 2 of the Bureau of Indian Affair's Checklist for Gaming Acquisitions (Section 20(b)(1)(A), found at page 7, issued in March of 2005), units of local government located within 10 miles of the proposed gaming establishment are to be included in the analysis of significant detriments that may be incurred by local governments; Lake County and many of its communities are a mere 6 miles from the site of the proposed Menominee Casino; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the members of the House of Representatives respectfully urge that the Menominee Draft Environmental Impact Statement be revised to include northern Illinois and that a public hearing be held in Illinois to assess the impact on Illinois of this proposed project; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Menominee Tribe, the members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an expression of our concerns.