Iowa bill passed in State Senate
SF 2275 to be submitted to House State Government Committee after it was passed by 29 votes to 20.
Senator Jeff Danielson’s bill to allow Iowa’s gambling establishments to offer online poker to the state’s residents has passed a Senate committee hearing by 29 votes to 20 and will now pass to the House State Government Committee.
SF 2275 was passed by a bipartisan vote, with eight Republican senators and 21 Democrats voting in favour of the bill, with five Democrats and 15 Republicans opposing the legislation. Under the terms of the bill, casinos, race tracks and riverboat casinos would be able to apply for licences to offer customers online poker, paying a gross profit tax.
Before being passed, an amendment proposed by Republican Senator Joni Ernst, which would have seen gross profit tax be used for the State’s road improvement budget “ which has a US$251m shortfall “ was removed, causing the senator to vote against the bill.
Legalised online poker is expected to raise around $15m for the Hawkeye State, with $13.2m in taxes and $1.8m for educational and charitable causes, according to the Des Moines Register.
eGaming Review exclusively revealed the introduction of the bill in February this year, which followed the failure of a bill last year after it failed to make it through the ‘funnel stage’ of the state’s legislative process in April 2011.
Speaking to the Des Moines Register, Danielson said: “Anytime we deal with gaming issues, there are a lot of public policy considerations. We did our homework. We worked together to come up with a solution that we believe addresses the problem.”
Despite the passage of the bill, around 69% of the state’s citizens are thought to oppose online gambling according to a newspaper poll, with only 28% in favour.