Online Casino Gambling in Iowa Soon? Yes/No

According to lawmakers in Iowa, the state's residents are unlikely to get access to online casino gambling sites until there is unanimous support for such activities within the retail casino industry. To date, only 13 of the state's 19 retail casinos are ready to fall in line.

In the eyes of some properties, it doesn't make sense to savage one's retail casino revenue in order to offer online casino access. Remember, some of the retail properties are excursion gambling boats that charge fees for the excursion, not to mention charging customers for food and beverages.

While it doesn't look like online casino gambling is coming to Iowa anytime soon, efforts are still being made to keep the online casino conversation going.

Online Casino Bill Introduced in the Iowa Huse

Over the last couple of years, Iowa Rep. Bobby Kaufmann has been submitting some form of online casino legislation with every new legislative session. As the current legislative session is coming to a close early in May, Kaufmann went ahead and refiled a prior bill. The bill is HSB 227, the same bill that was introduced but not voted on in the prior legislative session.

While the window has already closed for most committee discussions on proposed legislation, Kaufmann is the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. That committee does not have a funnel deadline, which leaves open the possibility he could open discussions anytime before April 28, 2023. While he holds open the possibility of subcommittee hearings on HSB 277, it seems clear he has little urgency to do so. More likely, he only reintroduced the bill to keep awareness of the bill open until a later legislative session.

According to Wes Ehrecke, executive director of the Iowa Gaming Association, in a conversation with PlayUSA: "It’s still not going anywhere but could get a subcommittee hearing. I think Kaufmann is doing what he did last year to heighten awareness. There’s a lot of new legislators and this provides more opportunities for education on the issue.”

For the benefit of interested parties, here is a look at key components of this bill as it stands now:

• A total of 19 online casino licenses would be allocated to existing race tracks and excursion gambling boat casinos
  
• Prospective licensees would pay an initial license fee of $45K for the first year and $10K every year thereafter
  
• Two branded mobile apps (skins) would be permitted for each licensee
  
• The Iowa Racing and Gaming would have discretion t approver a third skin Commission
  

It's not clear if there would be any House objection to any of these key components.

Note: The current legislative session will adjourn on May 17, 2023. That means that there is realistically no chance that Iowa residents will be getting access to online casino gambling until some time in the middle of 2024 at the earliest. Again, it depends on unanimous consent from existing retail casino operations.