After weeks of partisan bickering, the Senate took less than two minutes Tuesday to pass a grab-bag bill that bails out McCormick Place, raises the cigarette tax and gives tax breaks to Arlington Park racetrack.
But the catchall measure, which includes legislative gems for lawmakers from every corner of the state, stumbled Tuesday night in the House.
The House rejected the cigarette tax increase, defeated a farm aid proposal and abandoned assistance for fire-ravaged Arlington Park until spring. By scuttling parts of the omnibus bill, the House sends the measure back to the Senate. If the upper chamber rejects the actions of the House, the bill moves to a House-Senate conference committee, where the monthlong squabbling could rage anew.
Late Tuesday, Arlington principal owner Richard Duchossois said he has
”no desire to be the cause of delays” that could tie up the fall session. Duchossois said track owners, who announced last week that they will not rebuild, may seek an aid package again next spring in an attempt to stay in Illinois.
After Duchossois` announcement Tuesday night, House Republicans withdrew support for an Arlington aid package this fall.
The legislative impasse, which already has pushed the fall session nearly two weeks beyond its scheduled adjournment, finally broke in the Senate Tuesday.
The upper chamber easily passed compromise amendments for McCormick Place and Arlington Park. Then it passed the entire bill 38-18 with little discussion, sent it to the House and adjourned until Wednesday morning.
”Nothing is perfect,” said Senate Minority Leader James ”Pate” Philip (R., Wood Dale). ”This is kind of like a Christmas tree; there is a little bit of something for everybody.”
The House, apparently sensing that a conference committee would have to resolve the differences between the lower chamber and the Senate, adjourned at about 9 p.m. after prolonged debates on farm aid and the cigarette tax.
For Chicago lawmakers, the Senate bill includes $60 million to bail out the $312 million McCormick Place annex. Despite earlier Republican demands, the measure gives neither GOP Gov. James Thompson nor Democratic Mayor Harold Washington absolute control of the McCormick Place governing board.
For suburban legislators, the Senate bill calls for a number of tax incentives for owners to rebuild the racetrack in Arlington Heights. Over strong Democratic opposition, Senate Republicans passed an amendment that would give Arlington owners $11.25 million in a greater share of profits on wagering over five years.
For Downstaters, the measure provides $55.7 million in aid for the state`s financially troubled farmers. Despite opposition from some urban lawmakers, the bill calls for grants of as much as $2,000 for hardest-hit farmers, money to help restructure farmers` debts and aid for legal assistance for farmers.
For the governor, the bill includes his proposal to raise the state`s 12- cent-a-pack cigarette tax by 8 cents. The measure would raise more than $100 million annually to pay for education reforms passed by the legislature last spring, but House Speaker Michael Madigan (D., Chicago) said the proposal should be put off until Congress and President Reagan act on the federal cigarette tax next week. Thompson said he would sign no omnibus bill that did not include the cigarette tax increase.
”I`m not happy with everything that`s in the bill,” said Senate President Philip Rock (D., Oak Park). ”But the fact is, in order to get the job done, you can`t always get everything you want.”
The Senate also unanimously approved a supplemental spending bill totaling nearly $241 million, about $21 million less than Thompson requested. The bill includes $6.5 million for welfare recipients, $3 million for the purchase of the DuQuoin State Fair and $6.4 million for a Lake County marina. Under the proposal, payments to public aid recipients would remain at 52 percent of the standard of need after April, 1986. The state pays aid recipients 52 percent of what it considers the minimum subsistence income.
The provision of the omnibus bill most in peril from the beginning was the one giving tax breaks to spur Arlington Park owners to rebuild the 58-year-old facility.
With Arlington Heights Mayor James Ryan making a last-ditch plea for help, the Senate passed an amendment giving track owners a quarter of the tax break they had asked for on wagering profits.
The owners had asked for a crucial tax incentive, referred to as
”breakage,” that would have given them $45 million over 10 years in higher profits on bets. When the Senate rejected the $45 million tax break last week, Arlington owners announced that they would not rebuild.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed an amendment giving Arlington owners $11.25 million over five years in breakage incentives, but the track operators said that was not enough to encourage them to rebuild and instead focused their attention on next spring`s session.
”The governor has agreed to hold a major meeting of representatives of the racing and breeding industry at the Executive Mansion in the near future to develop an equitable package of aid for racetrack and breeding programs,” Duchossois said. ”We expect that this legislative package can be introduced early next year.”
Breakage is the ”odd cents” by which a payout on a wager exceeds increments of 20 cents. Payouts are rounded down to the lower 20-cent increment.
While the Senate was debating, the Illinois Racing Board postponed the awarding of 1986 Chicago thoroughbred and harness racing dates from Thursday until Monday, fueling speculation that Arlington Park will rise again.
