Opponents emerged Tuesday to a bill that would triple gambling seats in Illinois and install a city-owned mega-casino in Chicago.

“Illinois does not need to become the Las Vegas of the Midwest,” said James Wagner, president of the Chicago Crime Commission, at a press conference in the Loop.

Other organizations and citizens gathered to oppose the bill, which the Illinois Senate passed in September. The House is poised to take action in early November. The bill has been pushed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a way to close the state budget gap.

The bill proposes to add three casino licenses in Illinois: two privately owned riverboat casinos and one land-based Chicago casino that would be owned by the city. The proposal has raised eyebrows for establishing what would be the first government-owned casino in the nation, with a permanent, irrevocable license.

Opponents said the proposal for the city-owned casino lacks mechanisms for accountability and a feasible plan for operation and oversight, comparable to those in place for privately owned casinos.

Jeannette Tamayo, the commission’s general counsel, called the setup impossible to regulate. The Illinois Gaming Board governs the state’s nine existing casinos, but Tamayo said it’s unprepared to handle the workload that would come with the expansion.

Besides, she added, it isn’t possible for the board to do a background check on the City of Chicago as it does on private operators.

When it comes to corruption, Chicago is susceptible to criticism.

“I have one phrase for you: truck for hire,” said Cory Aronovitz, a John Marshall Law School professor and expert in casino law, pointing to recent scandals in the Daley administration. He was interviewed by phone Tuesday.

Wagner also singled out “the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” an organized crime infrastructure that is “still active, still powerful and engaged” in Chicago. He said law enforcement officials are not confident they could derail potential infiltration by crime groups, which have historical ties to gambling.

Given this backdrop of “inability or unwillingness to comply with the law … it’s an incredibly poor idea,” said Jay Stewart, executive director of the Chicago-based Better Government Association.

When asked to comment on opposition to the bill at an unrelated press conference Tuesday, Daley said, “We don’t have any decision-making in terms of casinos.”

Also opposed are existing casinos, represented by the Illinois Casino and Gaming Association, which has taken the stance that such a dramatic expansion of the industry would hurt its members. Wagner said Chicago’s proposed mega-casino could particularly crush smaller casinos.

Others argued the new casinos would hurt communities.

“Casino gambling is shown to be a net loss for communities,” said Jane Ramsey, executive director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. She cited research showing casinos lower property values, hurt local businesses and harm families.

But Aronovitz, who founded the Casino Law Group, said businesses in a city as large as Chicago are unlikely to feel adverse effects from a casino.

Wagner called for a referendum by Chicago citizens.

Anti-gambling activist Kathy Gilroy said polling Chicago residents is a good idea but not likely to happen.

“I don’t think Mayor Daley thinks he needs to listen to the citizens,” said Gilroy, a resident of the southwest suburb of Villa Park.

Gilroy said she’ll wear her signature bright yellow “NO MORE GAMBLING” sign on Wednesday, when the Illinois House Gaming Committee is scheduled to hear testimony from key stakeholders including the Illinois Gaming Board and Chicago CFO Paul Volpe.