DES MOINES, Iowa — In a vote of 68 to 31, the Iowa house passed a 5-year moratorium on casino licenses in the state Thursday, just one week before the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is set to decide on a gaming license for Linn County.
The bill would effectively block Cedar Rapids‘ plan to bring a new casino to the area if it passes the Senate before the IRGC gets to make its decision.
“This moratorium cancels the jobs of hundreds of Linn County residents,” State Rep. Aime Wichtendahl said. “It turns away entertainment, tourism and visitors to Iowa at the time when the state budget is hemorrhaging dollars.”
State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, the bill’s manager, has pushed back against a casino in Linn County over concerns of cannibalization.
“I think the studies show significant cannibalism is very real and I do believe we are in the correct purview to tell the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission how they should make major decisions,” Rep. Kaufmann said. “We created them, we change the rules on nearly yearly basis.”
A Senate committee advanced an identical bill prior to House debate but faced pushback over the need for the IRGC if the proposal passed.
“This bill would essentially be the legislature telling the commission not to do its job for six years,” State Sen. Zach Wahls said. “What’s the point of the commission if this passes in to law?”
State Sen. Scott Webster is the bill manager in the House and said the commission needs clear rules when issuing gaming licenses.
“I believe that they should have basic policy set by policy holders, policy handlers which is the legislature in this particular case,” Sen. Webster said. “Basic rules in order to function in their position as having a board. I believe the second part of this bill is the part that sets out those particular ideas and those particular policies that they should have directive for. That’s what I believe the racing and gaming commission will function and how it will function in the future.”
GOP Sen. Webster told Iowa’s News Now he’s not sure how much support it has in the Senate but that he hopes it does make it to the floor. He also said conversations are ongoing and that he isn’t against changing the current proposal in order to get it across the finish line.
“The moratorium I think, whether it’s six years or six months or a year in order to get some rules put in place,” Sen. Webster said. “I think the rules are the most important. The moratorium in the short term I think would have to happen in order to make sure the racing and gaming has the opportunity to get the new guidelines that we are looking at.”
As of now, there are still a lot of unknowns in the Senate. A Senate GOP spokesperson said its still uncertain if or when they’ll debate the bill.
If they happen to make any amendments, the bill will have to go back to the House for passage and make it to the governor’s desk in time to stop the commissions final licensure decision next Thursday.
Iowa’s News Now did reach out to the governors office to see if Gov. Reynolds would sign the bill if it made it to her desk. Her office said they don’t comment on ongoing legislation.
It is important to note that she did sign the last two-year casino moratorium.
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell was back in Des Moines Thursday. asking lawmakers to stop the casino moratorium legislation.
She says Linn County should get a fair shot by letting the IRGC make their own decision without lawmakers interfering.
“I believe the racing and gaming commission is doing the yeoman’s work, pouring over thousands of pages of documents and they’re gonna base their decision on facts not fear,” Mayor O’Donnell said. “And that’s really what we’re hearing out there from those who are frankly afraid of the competition. We know that our state needs new revenue and this project on its own, most conservatively, will bring in $60 to 80 million of net revenue to the state.”
With the bill now being left up to the Senate — O’Donnell says she believes lawmakers are taking this very seriously and the state Senate is now the only hope to stop this bill from advancing.
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