And they’re off. The Iowa House opened debate on a wide-ranging gambling bill at 8:57 this morning. The bill would allow up to five new riverboat gambling operations in the state, but none could be in a county that already has a casino and none could be within 50 miles of an existing gaming operation. The bill would allow table games at the race track casinos. Republican Representative Scott Raecker of Urbandale — the bill’s floor manager — says “it may sound strange,” but he “eagerly anticipates a good debate today.”
Raecker says legislators are “capable” of a good debate and Iowans deserve that” from lawmakers.
Raecker says he believes “it’s our job as public policymakers to manage and regulate the industry and the impacts it has on Iowa.” He says he knows of no other time when the Iowa House was “more prepared to have an informed and civil debate on the issues related to gambling.” Sixty-nine amendments have been filed by legislators who hope to change the bill, and it could take hours if not a couple of days to wade through all those amendments.
Raecker says there are “numerous substantive issues in the bill” which legislators will have an opportunity to debate today. The first action the House took today, though, was to have republicans and democrats gather separately in private to talk about the bill’s provisions.
The gambling bill also seeks changes to help address the problems of gambling addicts. Raecker says one proposal’s modeled after a Missouri law, and allows people to ban themselves for life from all Iowa gambling facilities.
Raecker says if someone who banned themselves for life from a casino went gambling and won, their jackpot or purse would be deposited in the state’s gambling treatment program. The bill also calls for just about doubling the amount of money that flows into that gamblers treatment program.
Roughly five million dollars would be dedicated to gambling treatment. The bill would also set a five-hundred dollar penalty for kids under the age of 18 who try to gamble at one of the state-licensed casinos. Under current law, the casino’s fined, but the underage gambler isn’t.