Racing and Gaming chair says don’t read anything into Sioux City action

The chair of the state Racing and Gaming Commission says the approval of an expansion project for the Sioux City gambling boat shouldn’t be an indication of how the commission might move in expanding gambling in the state. Mike Mahaffey admits the Sioux City project is an expansion of an existing facility. He says the Sioux City project is something they’ve been working on for some time, one of the problems is that the facility does not have enough parking. Mahaffey says the Sioux City casino boat’s main competition is from Native American casinos, which was another factor in the commission approving the project.He says Sioux City has the least amount of slot machines of any casino in the state, and that was another reason they allowed it to expand. The Iowa Legislature is leaving it up to the Racing and Gaming Commission to decide if it should lift its moratorium on new gambling licenses. Mahaffey says they’ll address the issue at their June meeting.