Attorney General appeals gambling taxes to the U-S Supreme Court

Iowa’s Attorney General has appealed, again, to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the nation’s highest court to strike down a State Supreme Court ruling on gambling taxes. Last June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state of Iowa had the authority to tax race tracks at a rate that’s higher than riverboats. The Iowa Supreme Court disagreed in February, and ruled the higher tax rate for the tracks violated the state constitution. Senator Don Redfern, a republican from Cedar Falls who’s a lawyer, says the odds are slim that the U.S. Supreme Court will decide to rule again on the matter. But Redfern says the Attorney General believes there’s a “reasonable chance” and Redfern agrees. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows says the appeal now is “on the table” as lawmakers try to get the tracks to agree to a deal that would mean the tracks get lower taxes — and the state doesn’t have to pay the tracks 160 million dollars in back taxes. Iverson says lawmakers have to find a resolution to the gambling dilemma, and this may be one means of getting there.Iverson says things will be resolved in the next week “one way or another.” Iverson says it’s a “fast-moving” deal. Iverson says there’ll be a lot of developments in the next 24 hours.