Will transparency fold under Gov. Pritzker's plan to revamp the Illinois Gambling Board?

Under Gov. JB Pritzker, casinos and video and sports gambling have exploded across the state — and video poker could expand even more if and when it’s introduced in the city of Chicago.

Tasked with regulating all this is the Illinois Gaming Board, which reports to Pritzker and has struggled in recent years with a central task: ensuring the integrity of the billion-dollar industry and keeping people with ties to reputed organized crime figures out of it.

Now Pritzker plans to revamp the agency in a dramatic reorganization — but in a manner that would likely eliminate key aspects of public transparency that have existed for decades.

Under the plan, gaming board members who are appointed by the governor and deliberate and vote in public sessions about important matters such as gaming licenses, qualifications and disciplinary matters would be gone, as would the regular meetings that anyone from the public can attend.

Rather, those functions would be melded with those of the Illinois Racing Board — which regulates the state’s struggling horse racing industry and whose board also is appointed by the governor.

Likewise, there would be no more racing board members and public meetings under the plan.

All functions would be folded into a new or existing arm of state government, operating along the lines of a department of the executive branch.

It’s unclear whether the changes would accompany reforms loosening some of the existing privacy provisions that have long limited public access to certain gaming board records involving gambling businesses, applicants and internal investigations.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/04/21/gov-jb-pritzker-casino-video-poker-illinois-gambling-board-racing-board-chicago-regulators