The author of a bill to establish a five-year moratorium on new casino licenses says it will be considered in a House committee next week.
Representative Bobby Kaufmann’s bill would block the bid for a new casino in Cedar Rapids. Backers of the Cedar Crossings Casino project say it would inject competition in Iowa’s gambling industry. Kaufmann rejects that.
“There is no such thing as a free market in the casino industry. That is a fallacy and it’s complete B.S.,” Kaufmann told statehouse reporters this morning. “The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is a government body that chooses winners and losers and the free market does not exist.”
A southeast Iowa lawmaker has introduced a bill in the Iowa Senate that would establish a five-year moratorium on new gambling licenses. Kaufmann’s bill, however, goes farther, It would set criteria in state law for regulators who’d be reviewing casino license applications in the future.
Backers of the Cedar Rapids project point to an estimate indicating the Cedar Crossings Casino would generate $60 million in gambling taxes for the state. Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, said “hundreds of people” who live in his House district are employed at the Riverside casino that would lose customers to a Cedar Rapids casino.
“The benefit does not outweigh people losing their jobs in my personal opinion,” Kaufmann said.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is scheduled to vote February 6 on the Cedar Rapids casino plan. It’s possible a fast-tracked bill could be signed into law by the governor before then. Governor Reynolds has not indicated whether she supports a moratorium on new licenses.
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