{"id":327572,"date":"2025-10-23T22:36:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T22:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/327572\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T22:36:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T22:36:20","slug":"airport-slot-machines-draw-interest-but-see-few-details-in-chicago-budget-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/327572\/","title":{"rendered":"Airport slot machines draw interest, but see few details in Chicago budget hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

As City Hall hunts for more cash to balance Chicago\u2019s ledger<\/a>, aldermen and Mayor Brandon Johnson\u2019s administration alike have shown increased interest in greenlighting airport gambling.<\/p>\n

But even with the mayor\u2019s finance team saying this week they are considering allowing slot machines at O\u2019Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport, Thursday\u2019s Aviation Department budget hearing devolved into a dispute over how such a change would work and how the money would get spent.<\/p>\n

Northwest Side Ald. Gilbert Villegas cited state law to question whether revenue generated by gambling might be required to stay within the airports\u2019 coffers. Airport officials did not answer clearly when pressed by downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly on where the tax proceeds would go.<\/p>\n

Michael McMurray, the Johnson-appointed Chicago Department of Aviation commissioner, said he \u201cwould imagine it would somehow maybe have to stay at the airport,\u201d while telling aldermen that was just a guess.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yeah, that\u2019s kind of a conundrum, right?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael J. McMurray, the new commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation, is introduced during a Chicago City Council meeting at City Hall on May 21, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s handpicked Budget Committee chair, Ald. Jason Ervin, quickly interrupted to share a contrasting view, but added that the question must be answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a really important question for us, especially given that our pension funds are depending on that money,\u201d Reilly said.<\/p>\n

If the money has to be spent at the airports, it could make it harder for aldermen to support the slots idea. Many council members who backed former Mayor Lori Lightfoot\u2019s pitch to bring a casino to Chicago<\/a> did so because the casino tax proceeds could be used to shore up the city\u2019s frail pension funds.<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s top finance leader gave the administration\u2019s clearest signal of support yet for the installation of casino-style slot machines at O\u2019Hare and Midway earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s chief financial officer, Jill Jaworski, told aldermen Tuesday her team has been \u201cin conversations\u201d about moving forward on airport slot machines. Bally\u2019s Casino, which would have first dibs to launch airport gambling operations, has expressed interest in the effort, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some technical challenges we have to deal with, ensuring that we\u2019re complying with all the regulations that are at the airport, but again, those conversations are ongoing,\u201d Jaworski said. \u201c[Bally\u2019s has] identified a site at Midway, and we have worked to move that forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

McMurray on Thursday said he had \u201cnot seen any proposals having to do with slots at any of our airports. I have not talked to Bally\u2019s about slots at our airports.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state law that granted Chicago a casino also gives its developer, Bally\u2019s, the right to open slot machines at the airports, so long as the total number of \u201cgaming positions\u201d at all its locations don\u2019t exceed 4,000.<\/p>\n

Villegas, who has championed airport gambling for months, called the slots a \u201cgood idea\u201d as he asked Jaworski if they might be coming soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the administration said that it was not a good idea,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s money that 60% and 70% of the revenue is going to come from people who are not even from Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SlotSlot machines at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on Nov. 15, 2023. (Jakub Porzycki\/AP)<\/p>\n

The finance chief pushed back against Villegas\u2019 description of the administration\u2019s stance and reiterated that her team is \u201cworking to move that forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s top adviser, Jason Lee, discounted the idea of slots in airports in August when he questioned in a Sun-Times interview whether it would be in the public interest. Such a move would \u201craise a number of concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be a pretty significant change to the culture of our airports. Chicago is not known primarily as a gaming destination like Las Vegas,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

But some aldermen have staunchly backed the possibility of airport slots while also pushing in recent months for the broad legalization of video gambling terminals throughout the city\u2019s bars and restaurants.<\/p>\n

City Council members even gave video gambling terminals committee-level approval last month, though a final vote has not occurred as Johnson officials call for a more favorable tax revenue split between the city and state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As City Hall hunts for more cash to balance Chicago\u2019s ledger, aldermen and Mayor Brandon Johnson\u2019s administration alike…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":327573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5404,5386,1818,1370,50,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-327572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-cook-county","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115425875688884474","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}