The Illinois Supreme Court issued a stay in the challenge to the constitutionality of the Capital Spending Bill which includes the Video Gaming Act. In issuing a stay it allows the Illinois Gaming Board to continue working on rolling out video gaming. Under the stay, the Gaming Board will continue to promulgate regulations, accept applications, conduct background investigations, analyze bids for the central communication system and develop applications for licensed locations. This is a positive step for the industry as the state makes its argument for the constitutionality of the Bill.
The mostly Democratic Supreme Court will set a schedule to receive breifs and oral arguments in this matter. The issue will be whether the Bill violates the single subject requirement. The single subject requirement prohibits the joining of less favorable laws to popular laws. The Court will consider whether all of the acts are rationally related to a single subject matter and whether that subject matter is not too general.
The Court will look to see if all the acts are related to the raising of revenue to support paying the bonds used to capitalize the jobs bill. This is not a specific challenge to the constitutionality of video gaming.
It seems likely that the Court will find that all the acts are tied to supporting the repayment of the bonds used to pay for the jobs creation bill. The fact that the bill also established a study by the University of Illinois should not deter a finding supporting a single subject.
