+3 2 new plans in play as debate about legalizing sports gambling in Illinois continues SPRINGFIELD – There are now almost as many different plans to legalize sports betting in Illinois as there are states that have legalized it i…

“Ladies and gentlemen, the math is simple,” Sen. Jim Oberweis, a Sugar Grove Republican, said. “Each and every one of us have students in our districts who are relying on MAP funding. If we’re going to take some of that funding away from our citizens and give it to noncitizens, that means we’re depriving some of our citizens, some of our students, from being able to have that funding to help with their education. This is just absolutely, fundamentally wrong.”

Aquino conceded Illinois does not fully fund the MAP grant program, saying grants are awarded on a first-come-first-served basis, and there are often more applicants than there are grant funds to go around. But he said that issue is separate from the issue of eligibility.

“I’d love to leave here at the end of this session saying we fully funded MAP. I would love that,” Aquino said. “But that’s not this bill. This bill just opens up opportunities to students to have the option to be a college student and hopefully get a degree.”

Other Democrats argued that extending eligibility for the grants would benefit the state at-large.