Bill author says proposed legislation would not impact Cedar Crossing Casino | Politics

DES MOINES, Iowa (KWWL) — On Thursday the Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced a bill that some lawmakers feel could impact the recently approved Cedar Crossing Casino.

The language in bill SSB-1159 says it would prohibit urban renewal areas from being used for facilities with gaming licenses approved on or after January 1 of this year.

Some originally thought that this would impact Cedar Crossing. According to the Cedar Rapids City Council’s development agreement with the Cedar Rapids Development Group, Cedar Crossing is in fact being built in an urban renewal area.

However, the bill’s author, Senator Scott Webster (R), argued that this would not have any effect on Cedar Crossing because they have not taken any taxpayer funds.

Senator Janice Weiner (D) was the one senator in the subcommittee who opposed advancing the bill.

Senator Weiner explained, “The process, as it exists in code, worked. That’s just following the rule of law. Frankly, I view this bill as performative. So I’m not going to vote for it.”

In his defense of the bill, Senator Webster noted that it is specifically focused on ensuring that in the future, Iowa casinos are not funded by tax money that would be taken away from others who need it.

Senator Webster said, “This is not a moratorium bill. We didn’t pass a moratorium bill. What this is saying is government and tax payers should not be paying for casinos on getting new casinos throughout Iowa. That’s exactly what it says. It says we shouldn’t take money away from schools, police officers, firefighters, tax payers.”

Senator Webster, as well as Senator Dawn Driscoll, a Republican from Iowa County, both supported the bill.

KWWL received a statement from Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell saying, “We will do as we have from the beginning: Follow the process, adhere to the law and act in the best interest of the thousands of Linn County voters who twice approved gaming in our community.”

The bill advanced out of subcommittee in a party line vote 2-1.

Senator Webster expects this bill to go to a full committee hearing sometime next week.