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00:00All right, so now let's follow up and ask the same question about Illinois.
00:05We've been talking about them, by the way, through the end of the year into this year
00:08too.
00:09What are their chances of getting this done?
00:11This one is also interesting because now you've got Governor JB Pritzker saying, this is something
00:16we should consider.
00:18And it comes as he's probably working on his budget that needs to be proposed by February.
00:24And they're going to have something like a $3 billion budget shortfall.
00:28So they need revenue, and a representative who has introduced bills in the past says
00:34this is a great way to raise revenue.
00:37The senator who was speaking of it has introduced it both of the previous two sessions.
00:44They run two-year lengths, so 2021 and 2023, and I assume she will again this year.
00:49But with Pritzker saying, this is something we should consider, you have to think that
00:54carries some weight in Illinois.
00:56We know Pritzker is a fairly friendly person to gambling.
01:00They've opened up sports betting since he took office.
01:03They've added some new casinos to the state.
01:06It's not all friendly.
01:07They did raise the taxes to a tiered level based on your revenue for sports books last
01:14year.
01:15So it's not all friendly, but JB Pritzker is very friendly to the industry.
01:18So it'll be interesting to see if he does, in fact, include this in the budget, or maybe
01:22they go about it the other way with just straight legislation.
01:26Again, something interesting to watch.
01:29Again, there are plenty of headwinds against this.
01:34The public is kind of wary about the expansion into gambling, having sports books already.
01:41You might see some more responsible gambling action in Illinois as well, just kind of to
01:45say, hey, we're going to pay attention to this, as well as expand it a little bit more.
01:50But the expansion is important to keep it regulated and in the public eye.