Rahm Emanuel supports Chicago casino

CHICAGO, May 20 (UPI) -- New Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he supports the idea of a gambling casino in the city if certain conditions are met.

Emanuel said if Chicago has its own casino residents won't have to go to casinos in Indiana.

"We have gambling, or casinos rather, in Chicago," Emanuel said in a Chicago Sun-Times report Friday. "It happens to be in Hammond, Ind. We're losing that revenue. We can't continue to do that."

Hammond, although in Indiana, is in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Emanuel said a condition of his support is the ownership of a casino, which he said should belong to the city.

Several previous casino plans have failed over the years but the new mayor has an ally in Gov. Pat Quinn, who supports the idea.

"He is open to the idea of a Chicago casino," Quinn spokeswoman Annie Thompson said. "The governor has made no secret of his priority to bring jobs to Illinois and to invest in education. If there were a proposal on the table that would help raise the revenue to do that, he would be open to that."

Emanuel said the city needs the money gambling would generate.

"There will be job growth, economic activity if we had a casino here in Chicago with the right conditions associated with that," Emanuel said. "And I have communicated the city's interests for the taxpayers -- for the people who live here and work here -- of our interest in getting, finally, a casino license under the right conditions for the city."

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, backs Emanuel's support for a city casino.

"I'm open to any ideas to assist the House in building support over there," Cullerton said.