The e-mail said it
all. "Thank you," the man from Waterloo wrote to legislators, "for
expanding gaming in Iowa."
In the final analysis, that's exactly the course the Iowa
General Assembly has set in this session's gambling bill. I predict
choppy waters ahead at best, a perfect storm at worst.
Waterloo in Black Hawk county wants a casino, desperately. So
do five other counties-Palo Alto, Worth, Franklin, Wapello and
Webster-where a gambling referendum has been passed. Iowa currently
has 16 casinos by way of 10 state-licensed riverboats, three
racetracks and three American Indian gaming centers.
At one time the Iowa House by a wide margin had approved a
bill that addressed tax rates and other issues related to gambling,
but also included a moratorium on additional licenses. Weeks later,
when the Senate took its turn to debate the bill, the moratorium was
removed. Moratorium supporters were far outnumbered and two
amendments I offered to restore the moratorium were soundly
rejected. I ended up voting against the bill because it does exactly
what the Waterloo writer said it would-expand the number of casinos
in the state.
When the Senate-amended bill went back to the House, one
last effort to restore the moratorium was defeated by a 10-vote
margin. A deal had been struck, and the bill is coming back to the
Senate after the weekend break.
A gambling bill is needed to help make up the millions of
dollars in lost revenue and the $112 million in back taxes the state
owes to Iowa's three racetracks after losing a lawsuit over the
state's gaming tax structure. The lawsuit goes back to 2002 when the
Iowa Supreme Court first ruled that Iowa's different tax rates on
casino operations were unconstitutional. The ruling struck down the
tax rates paid by racetrack casinos and forced lawmakers to rewrite
the state's gaming tax structure. State officials are currently
appealing the case for a second time to the U.S. Supreme Court.
To be sure, the bill has its strong points. The legislation
calls for a socio-economic study of, for better and for worse, the
impact of gambling on Iowa. Gambling has been growing since the
1980s, yet a truly independent and comprehensive study has not been
done. The legislation also states that a gambling referendum that
fails in a county cannot be brought back to voters for eight years.
The time before a re-vote currently stands at two years, which makes
no sense.
But the bill opens the door to new casino licenses by putting
the issue of gambling expansion back into the hands of the state
Racing and Gaming Commission. The bill proposes a $5 million fee for
a new gambling license issued in a county with fewer than 15,000
people; a $10 million fee for counties with more than 15,000 but
fewer than 100,000 people; and a $20 million fee for counties with
more than 100,000 people.
The bill further expands gambling by allowing table games at
racetrack casinos and giving state regulators the authority to
decide whether to allow additional slot machines at casinos.
I will be writing to Racing and Gaming Commission members to
urge them to slow down what looks to be a rush for new gambling
licenses. I will strongly suggest that, at the very least, the
socio-economic study must be completed before a commission vote on
lifting the existing moratorium. The study is due by July 1, 2005.
The next commission meeting will be in June. Current members
are Gerald Bair of Ankeny, Kate Cutler of Honey Creek, Diane
Hamilton of Storm Lake, Joyce Jarding of Farley and Michael Mahaffey
of Montezuma. The commission office address is 717 E. Court, Suite
B, Des Moines IA 50309. The office phone is 515/281-7352.
Election reform
The Senate last week gave final approval to election-reform
legislation aimed at ensuring integrity and fairness in the voting
process.
The bill would put Iowa in compliance with the federal Help
America Vote Act. The legislation will help replace outdated lever
voting machines with upgraded equipment, increase election worker
training and voter education, and create a statewide
voter-registration list.
The bill also cleans up Iowa's absentee ballot laws. The goal
is to increase accountability to ensure all votes are counted.
More school funding
The Senate also approved an increase to education spending for
the 2005-2006 school year by at least $76.5 million, with the
promise of increasing funding by an additional $22.4 million if the
economy continues to rebound.
The plan keeps our commitment to make education a top
priority. Under the legislation, the per-pupil spending for schools,
or "allowable growth," would be set at three percent, with the
promise of increasing it to four percent if December, 2004 revenue
estimates project revenue growth of at least four percent during
fiscal year 2006. The plan, which now goes to the House, means total
funding for K-12 schools in Iowa could top more than $3 billion next
year, a first in state history.
Senators approved the funding for the 2005-2006 school year
because state law requires allowable growth to be set two years in
advance. That means the school funding formula for the 2005-2006
school year must be signed into law during the 2004 legislative
session. The legislation received bipartisan support in the Senate.
Visitors
Among the northwest Iowa visitors to the capitol were Marilyn
Poppen of Sibley, president of Iowa Farm Bureau Women; Cynthia
Beauman, executive director of Northwest Agency on Ageing in
Spencer; and Sheldon city manager Scott Wynja. The Senate last week
adopted a resolution honoring the City of Hartley on the occasion of
its 125th anniversary celebration set for August 6-7.