With McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler so in favor of the expansion of the gambling passed with the help of McHenry County State Representatives Mike Tryon and Mark Beaubien, with the help of State Senator Pam Althoff, I was surprised when I looked at the agenda of the County Board’s Liquor and License Committee.

You will remember DuPage County made big news by banning slots (which most proponents call video poker).

There’s an ordinance to prohibit video gaming on the agenda of the 9:30 meeting in Woodstock.

You can see it below:

ORDINANCE PROHIBITING VIDEO GAMING WITHIN
UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF MCHENRY COUNTY

WHEREAS, the Video Gaming Act (230 ILCS 40/1 et seq.; PA 96-0034) became law July 13, 2009 and allows licensed retail establishments to conduct video gambling; and

WHEREAS, recognizing that some Illinois local jurisdictions would desire to opt out of video gambling, Section 27 of the Video Gaming Act permits counties and municipalities to prohibit video gaming by ordinance within their respective corporate limits or unincorporated areas; and

WHEREAS, states such as Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina have abandoned experiments with the legalization of video poker because of regulatory difficulties, corruption, and the high social costs associated with this form of gambling; and

WHEREAS, electronic gaming is designed to entice people to play longer, faster, and at higher rates of wagering, according to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and

WHEREAS, the McHenry County Board and the McHenry County Liquor and License committee agrees that legalized video poker would present a variety of adverse impacts on residents of McHenry County including the potential for corruption, impact on the costs of law enforcement, regulatory difficulties, and high social costs; and

WHEREAS, the legalization of video poker within McHenry County is not consistent with our desire to maintain a family friendly environment for citizens and their children; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED that the McHenry County Board hereby exercises its right under Section 27 of the Illinois Video Gaming Act (230 ILCS 40/1 et seq.) to prohibit video gaming from unincorporated areas of McHenry County effective
immediately.