Senate leader says three counties should still have a shot at gambling license

The Republican leader in the Iowa Senate says state gambling regulators should not completely shut the door on gambling license applications from Webster, Wapello and Franklin Counties. Bids for boats for those areas — in Fort Dodge, Ottumwa and near Hampton — were rejected by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission last week, and commissioners say they may re-institute a moratorium on new licenses.Senate Co-Leader Stewart Iverson, a Republican from Dows, says if the commission does “put a moratorium on, then those three ought to be exempt.” Iverson says he’s not worried about competition and doesn’t think regulators need to worry about “protecting” one license holder from another. Iverson represents Webster and Franklin Counties, two of the three areas which failed to land a casino. “These counties have passed a referendum. They have done the work, you know, but that’s Racing and Gaming’s decision but I still think if they’ve passed it, go ahead and let ’em have it because competition will take care of itself,” Iverson says. “I kind of liken it to the busy intersection where you used to have four gas stations on all four corners. Is this saying that, well, you can only have one station because it might hurt somebody else’s business? No, I think that’s what capitalism is all about.” Iverson says, though, he is not directly calling for state regulators to grant licenses to Fort Dodge, Ottumwa and Franklin County. “We are not going to go in legislatively and say that there needs to be three more licenses,” Iverson says. “No, we are not doing that.”