While Iowa lawmakers were burning the midnight oil early Saturday in a push to adjourn the 2024 session, an extension of a moratorium on new gambling licenses went up in smoke.
So, what happened?
Well, in those late hours, the Legislature moves in mysterious ways. And, according to folks I’ve talked to who were there, it was likely a confluence of factors that scuttled a bill.
One big factor is Cedar Rapids casino backers were not blindsided as they had been in 2022 when the Legislature approved a two-year moratorium. This time, the Cedar Rapids Development Group had an eight-person lobbying firm at its disposal, watching for all signs of trouble.
One of those lobbyists is former Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, who left the Senate, um, abruptly in March of 2018. He still had enough juice with his former colleagues to help head the bill off at the pass.
“Relationships are always, that’s how the Legislature works,” Dix said in a brief interview. He said he was tempted to tell me what happened but declined. “I don’t think that’s my role.”
Lobbyists, as an unwritten rule, avoid talking to the press on the record.
On the other side, six lobbyists for Elite Casinos and Resorts lobbied for the amendment to Senate File 2427. Elite is led by Dan Kehl and owns five casino properties in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. That includes the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, which would likely lose business to a Cedar Rapids casino.
Kehl was not content with just a five-year extension of the moratorium to 2029. He attempted to nuke Cedar Rapids’ casino dreams once and for all. The amendment extending the moratorium, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, also prohibited the future licensing of any casino that would “negatively impact” a casino in a “rural county” with a population of less than 30,000.
Consequently, if market studies show a Cedar Rapids facility would cannibalize revenues from Riverside, it would be illegal to grant them a license even after 2029.
With that, Kehl may have overplayed his hand, although the amendment passed easily in the House.
Then it was sent to the Senate.
But it wasn’t received until after 1 a.m. The Senate conducted some business and stood at ease at 2:42 a.m., according to the Senate Journal, and reconvened at 3:25 a.m. A few minutes later, the Senate passed a resolution adjourning for the year. Game over.
Sometimes, when you commence a legislative sneak attack under cover of darkness, the clock might run out. This buzzer-beater was an air ball.
So now Cedar Rapids is on its way to joining the casino cartel, right? Backers will receive green jackets, sort of like the Masters, but the color of money.
Well, not exactly. Now the tough part begins, convincing the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to approve a license for a Cedar Rapids gambling parlor.
This will be the third attempt to win a license, with proposals voted down in 2013 and 2017. In both cases, the dreaded cannibalization of bucks from existing casinos proved decisive.
Will it happen again? Probably. Iowa’s gambling market is pretty well saturated. But I thought the moratorium would pass again. So, what do I know?
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
While Iowa lawmakers were burning the midnight oil early Saturday in a push to adjourn the 2024 session, an extension of a moratorium on new gambling licenses went up in smoke.
So, what happened?
Well, in those late hours, the Legislature moves in mysterious ways. And, according to folks I’ve talked to who were there, it was likely a confluence of factors that scuttled a bill.
One big factor is Cedar Rapids casino backers were not blindsided as they had been in 2022 when the Legislature approved a two-year moratorium. This time, the Cedar Rapids Development Group had an eight-person lobbying firm at its disposal, watching for all signs of trouble.
One of those lobbyists is former Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, who left the Senate, um, abruptly in March of 2018. He still had enough juice with his former colleagues to help head the bill off at the pass.
“Relationships are always, that’s how the Legislature works,” Dix said in a brief interview. He said he was tempted to tell me what happened but declined. “I don’t think that’s my role.”
Lobbyists, as an unwritten rule, avoid talking to the press on the record.
On the other side, six lobbyists for Elite Casinos and Resorts lobbied for the amendment to Senate File 2427. Elite is led by Dan Kehl and owns five casino properties in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. That includes the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, which would likely lose business to a Cedar Rapids casino.
Kehl was not content with just a five-year extension of the moratorium to 2029. He attempted to nuke Cedar Rapids’ casino dreams once and for all. The amendment extending the moratorium, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, also prohibited the future licensing of any casino that would “negatively impact” a casino in a “rural county” with a population of less than 30,000.
Consequently, if market studies show a Cedar Rapids facility would cannibalize revenues from Riverside, it would be illegal to grant them a license even after 2029.
With that, Kehl may have overplayed his hand, although the amendment passed easily in the House.
Then it was sent to the Senate.
But it wasn’t received until after 1 a.m. The Senate conducted some business and stood at ease at 2:42 a.m., according to the Senate Journal, and reconvened at 3:25 a.m. A few minutes later, the Senate passed a resolution adjourning for the year. Game over.
Sometimes, when you commence a legislative sneak attack under cover of darkness, the clock might run out. This buzzer-beater was an air ball.
So now Cedar Rapids is on its way to joining the casino cartel, right? Backers will receive green jackets, sort of like the Masters, but the color of money.
Well, not exactly. Now the tough part begins, convincing the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to approve a license for a Cedar Rapids gambling parlor.
This will be the third attempt to win a license, with proposals voted down in 2013 and 2017. In both cases, the dreaded cannibalization of bucks from existing casinos proved decisive.
Will it happen again? Probably. Iowa’s gambling market is pretty well saturated. But I thought the moratorium would pass again. So, what do I know?
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
So, what happened?
Well, in those late hours, the Legislature moves in mysterious ways. And, according to folks I’ve talked to who were there, it was likely a confluence of factors that scuttled a bill.
One big factor is Cedar Rapids casino backers were not blindsided as they had been in 2022 when the Legislature approved a two-year moratorium. This time, the Cedar Rapids Development Group had an eight-person lobbying firm at its disposal, watching for all signs of trouble.
One of those lobbyists is former Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, who left the Senate, um, abruptly in March of 2018. He still had enough juice with his former colleagues to help head the bill off at the pass.
“Relationships are always, that’s how the Legislature works,” Dix said in a brief interview. He said he was tempted to tell me what happened but declined. “I don’t think that’s my role.”
Lobbyists, as an unwritten rule, avoid talking to the press on the record.
On the other side, six lobbyists for Elite Casinos and Resorts lobbied for the amendment to Senate File 2427. Elite is led by Dan Kehl and owns five casino properties in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. That includes the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, which would likely lose business to a Cedar Rapids casino.
Kehl was not content with just a five-year extension of the moratorium to 2029. He attempted to nuke Cedar Rapids’ casino dreams once and for all. The amendment extending the moratorium, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, also prohibited the future licensing of any casino that would “negatively impact” a casino in a “rural county” with a population of less than 30,000.
Consequently, if market studies show a Cedar Rapids facility would cannibalize revenues from Riverside, it would be illegal to grant them a license even after 2029.
With that, Kehl may have overplayed his hand, although the amendment passed easily in the House.
Then it was sent to the Senate.
But it wasn’t received until after 1 a.m. The Senate conducted some business and stood at ease at 2:42 a.m., according to the Senate Journal, and reconvened at 3:25 a.m. A few minutes later, the Senate passed a resolution adjourning for the year. Game over.
Sometimes, when you commence a legislative sneak attack under cover of darkness, the clock might run out. This buzzer-beater was an air ball.
So now Cedar Rapids is on its way to joining the casino cartel, right? Backers will receive green jackets, sort of like the Masters, but the color of money.
Well, not exactly. Now the tough part begins, convincing the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to approve a license for a Cedar Rapids gambling parlor.
This will be the third attempt to win a license, with proposals voted down in 2013 and 2017. In both cases, the dreaded cannibalization of bucks from existing casinos proved decisive.
Will it happen again? Probably. Iowa’s gambling market is pretty well saturated. But I thought the moratorium would pass again. So, what do I know?
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
While Iowa lawmakers were burning the midnight oil early Saturday in a push to adjourn the 2024 session, an extension of a moratorium on new gambling licenses went up in smoke.
So, what happened?
Well, in those late hours, the Legislature moves in mysterious ways. And, according to folks I’ve talked to who were there, it was likely a confluence of factors that scuttled a bill.
One big factor is Cedar Rapids casino backers were not blindsided as they had been in 2022 when the Legislature approved a two-year moratorium. This time, the Cedar Rapids Development Group had an eight-person lobbying firm at its disposal, watching for all signs of trouble.
One of those lobbyists is former Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, who left the Senate, um, abruptly in March of 2018. He still had enough juice with his former colleagues to help head the bill off at the pass.
“Relationships are always, that’s how the Legislature works,” Dix said in a brief interview. He said he was tempted to tell me what happened but declined. “I don’t think that’s my role.”
Lobbyists, as an unwritten rule, avoid talking to the press on the record.
On the other side, six lobbyists for Elite Casinos and Resorts lobbied for the amendment to Senate File 2427. Elite is led by Dan Kehl and owns five casino properties in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. That includes the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, which would likely lose business to a Cedar Rapids casino.
Kehl was not content with just a five-year extension of the moratorium to 2029. He attempted to nuke Cedar Rapids’ casino dreams once and for all. The amendment extending the moratorium, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, also prohibited the future licensing of any casino that would “negatively impact” a casino in a “rural county” with a population of less than 30,000.
Consequently, if market studies show a Cedar Rapids facility would cannibalize revenues from Riverside, it would be illegal to grant them a license even after 2029.
With that, Kehl may have overplayed his hand, although the amendment passed easily in the House.
Then it was sent to the Senate.
But it wasn’t received until after 1 a.m. The Senate conducted some business and stood at ease at 2:42 a.m., according to the Senate Journal, and reconvened at 3:25 a.m. A few minutes later, the Senate passed a resolution adjourning for the year. Game over.
Sometimes, when you commence a legislative sneak attack under cover of darkness, the clock might run out. This buzzer-beater was an air ball.
So now Cedar Rapids is on its way to joining the casino cartel, right? Backers will receive green jackets, sort of like the Masters, but the color of money.
Well, not exactly. Now the tough part begins, convincing the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to approve a license for a Cedar Rapids gambling parlor.
This will be the third attempt to win a license, with proposals voted down in 2013 and 2017. In both cases, the dreaded cannibalization of bucks from existing casinos proved decisive.
Will it happen again? Probably. Iowa’s gambling market is pretty well saturated. But I thought the moratorium would pass again. So, what do I know?
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
