There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal, and that’s why Tom Grey is ready for mortal combat. Grey, a Methodist minister and Vietnam war veteran, has been tracking the beast since 1992 and he knows it’s bleeding. The “beast” is legalized gambling, which has grown for 20 years at a phenomenal rate in this country–most of the growth coming from a proliferation of casinos on riverboats and Native American reservations. The amount of money legally wagered in 1995 exceeded $480 billion.
Last October a Copley News Service poll of Illinois voters reported 66 percent opposed to any expansion of riverboat gambling in the state. Two years earlier, the citizenry had been evenly divided on the same issue.
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The pieces are in place. Representative Lou Lang of Skokie, a longtime supporter of gambling, explained this week that his House Bill 169 would open the way for 14 new casinos, including five in Chicago, four in Rosemont, and two in Lake County. It would allow riverboats to remain permanently docked (so customers could come and go more freely) and would permit some of the casinos in Cook County to be based on land. It also would authorize slot machines and video poker machines at racetracks.
But Lang insisted his bill “is not about gambling but about education.” Its purpose, he said, is to generate $1.4 billion in additional taxes for school construction and renovation. The General Assembly has been thrashing about for years trying to find new ways to finance schools, and Lang’s sweeping proposal could tempt legislators long opposed or indifferent to gambling–especially since the increased revenues it promises would permit a decrease in real estate taxes.
“Look,” Grey says. “Two years ago the senate approved a bill for a state referendum, but it got nowhere because it was permanently bottled up in the house. Down deep, the ballot box is what [gambling promoters] fear. They cringe when you talk about taking it to the ballot box.”
But Grey persuaded Duecker to relieve him of his parish duties and provide him a modest salary and health benefits so he could go to war. Grey got in his 1985 Honda and has scarcely been out of a car since–“265 days on the road last year alone.” He is constantly speaking, organizing, and networking, not to mention distributing literature and alerting the press.
“I’m working with Gideon’s army, a ragtag, outnumbered bunch. But we’re strong because our cause is righteous.”
