House votes on new casinos

We completed the third week of the session yesterday, and voted on our first three bills of the year on the House floor.

One was House File 144, which establishes a moratorium on new gambling. The vote results were 68 ayes and 31 nays (one representative absent or not voting).

By party, 53 Republicans and 15 Democrats voted aye, while 15 Republicans and 16 Democrats voted nay.

Seventy-nine percent of Republicans and about half of the Democrats voted for the moratorium, and I voted in favor of the moratorium. There were two independent market studies conducted last month that concluded the Iowa casino market is saturated, [that the market] would start cannibalizing and have huge negative impacts on casinos in Riverside, Tama, Waterloo, Clinton, Dubuque and possibly others in central Iowa.

Riverside would see a revenue loss of between $17 million and $34 million (-26%). I was told the employees would be cut from currently about 750 down to around 500 there.

The Meskwaki Casino would lose over $14 million, Waterloo about $8.8 million (-9.6%), and an estimated $11 million to other casinos around the state.

Gambling has been dropping the last two fiscal years by 2.4%, and the first four months of FY 2025 it’s down 2.5%. You can get all of the details from the two studies by going to cbs2iowa.com/news/local/market-studies-reveal-big-risks-for-proposed-cedar-crossing-casino#.

It is with great sadness to say the Iowa Legislature lost a very dear friend … due to a massive heart attack, State Rep. Martin Graber, District 100, from Fort Madison.

Rep. Graber was a close friend, and I will miss him very much. His daughter and her family live in Vinton, so please keep them and Martin’s wife Coni in your thoughts and prayers.

Have a safe and healthy weekend.