Iowa Votes To Refrain From Issuing Casino Licenses For Next Two Years

In a move that has frustrated many in the Cedar Rapids district of the state, lawmakers in Iowa have conspired to approve a moratorium that prevents local operators from receiving gaming licences for at least twenty-four months. This directive was articulated in House File 2497, which also included adjustments to other aspects of Iowa’s regulatory framework. The state’s Republican Governor, Kim Reynolds, has now signed off on the measure.

It was a crushing blow to casino advocates in Cedar Rapids, who have campaigned for over eight years to establish a casino venue in the region. Last November, 55% of Linn County residents, the jurisdiction in which Cedar Rapids is situated, voted in favour of constructing a gaming facility. On the back of this, the Hawkeye State’s native regulator, the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission, initiated a licence tendering process.

However, politicians in both the House and Senate struck down the ballot box decision, voting instead to prohibit the dispensation of licences, and therefore block any immediate plans to build a new casino. This is the latest of three separate failures for the east-Iowan city, with similar attempts also quashed in 2014 and 2017. On those occasions, the state feared that a Cedar Rapids casino would serve to deflect funds from other local concessionaires.

Tiffany O’Donnell, Mayor of Cedar Rapids, expressed her regret at the decision, but stressed that the city would be ready for action at the conclusion of the two-year hiatus.

She described her conversation with Reynolds, a Republican Party colleague, to the Cedar Rapids Gazette,

‘’I expressed to her my disappointment and reassured her that Cedar Rapids would still be here when the moratorium is lifted in two years’’.

The decision comes amidst concerns that the Iowan gaming marketplace had reached a point of saturation. The state currently carries nineteen separate licences, whose holders operate a total of twenty-three standalone casinos. A supporter of the bill, Chair of the House State Government Committee, Bobby Kaufmann, said that the new legislation was designed to maintain an ‘equilibrium’ throughout the sector.