Archive for the ‘Video gambling’ tag
What a difference a summer (and a lousy revenue report) makes
It looks like video gambling may have new life in the Iowa Legislature. House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Dubuque Democrat, is calling the issue “a live round to be discussed.”
That’s a difference from July, when I started poking around to find out if Iowa would match Illinois’ decision to allow video poker. Recall, Illinois approved video gambling as part of a larger budget package that included a long-awaited capital bill.
Back then, Murphy didn’t shut the door on the possibility, but said “I think it’s a tough uphill fight.”
Apparently, the hill has flattened a bit.
The Des Moines Register reports Murphy said yesterday that legislators who may have turned their nose up at it a year ago may be looking at it differently now.
Certainly, video gambling would bring money into state coffers at a time when there’s a round of budget cuts going on. But it would also inject gambling expansion into an election year, which is likely to ruffle some feathers.