Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday stood firm on slimming down a state gaming proposal to five casinos and refusing to add slot machines.
A day after he announced he would veto casino legislation in its current form, he told NBCChicago the bill's supporters have exaggerated the benefits of gambling in Illinois.
"They make it sound like we're all going to go to heaven if we have a casino on every street corner," Quinn said. "Well, I don't believe that, I don't think the people believe that."
He reiterated concerns laid out Monday, from the lack of oversight for a Chicago casino to the over-saturation of gambling 14 casinos would cause and the misguidance of revenue away from education.
His plan proposes casinos in Chicago, the south suburbs, Lake County, Danville and Rockford, and denies slots in airports, the state fair and racetracks.
Responding to Illinois racetrack owners pleading for slots to save their business, he said tracks received $141 million in August and receive generous support from an Illinois law already in place.
"I don't think we should turn racetracks into casinos all across Illinois, that's too much," he said. "You have to have a limit, and that's what I did yesterday."
In response to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push for thousands of jobs that would be created through a new casino, Quinn told NBCChicago jobs should be found through infrastructure programs not gaming.
"You can't gamble your way to prosperity."
