Ward-level bans on video gambling blocked by Chicago City Council committee

New front opens in City Council battle over video gambling – Chicago Sun-Times

Ald. Anthony Napolitano said he insisted on Thursday’s vote which prohibited ward-by-ward bans, to prevent Johnson from blowing a hole in the $16.6 billion, 2026 budget approved by a City Council majority that rejected Johnson’s corporate head tax. That alternative budget assumed that Chicago would generate $6.8 million by licensing newly legalized video gambling terminals across the city.

New front opens in City Council battle over video gambling

The City Council's License Committee rejected attempts by six of Mayor Brandon Johnson's allies — Jesse Fuentes (26th), Walter R. Burnett (27th), Jason Ervin (28th), Rosanna Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), Anthony Quezada (35th) and Maria Hadden (49th) — to prohibit video gambling terminals in their wards.

Ward-level bans on video gambling blocked by Chicago City Council committee

Two ordinances banning the machines in six different wards were decisively defeated during a City Council License Committee meeting.