U.S. Supreme Court sides with state in casino tax case

The U-S Supreme Court has ruled in the state’s favor in the lawsuit Iowa race track casinos filed to protest state tax rates. Bob Brammer, a spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, says state officials are elated. According to Brammer, the Attorney General calls it a “straight-forward opion upholding the constitutionality of the Iowa tax.”The tracks objected to being taxes at a higher rate than the state’s riverboat casinos. Lawmakers argued the tracks agreed to that higher rate when the Legislature allowed the tracks to have slot machines and go into competition with the boats. House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City, says he’s “obviously pleased” the U-S Supreme Court ruled in the state’s favor. Rants says it’s nice to be “vindicated” by the U-S Supreme Court Justices. The ruling means the state now owes the state some back-taxes.Rants says legislative leaders and the Governor now have to decide their next step. He says they could “let it ride” and let the Iowa Supreme Court interpret the ruling. Or lawmakers and the Governor may decide to hold another “special” legislative session to adjust state law on their own rather than trusting the Iowa Court to set policy in line with the U-S Supreme Court decision.