On Thursday, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) reached a unanimous decision to conduct a review of a petition submitted by the owners of Riverside Casino and Golf Resort, which aims to disqualify Linn County and Cedar Rapids as a suitable host location for a commercial casino.
Lawyers for Riverside and its charitable entity, the Washington County Riverboat Foundation, are contesting a local ballot referendum that was approved by Linn County voters in 2021, which permanently permitted gambling in the county as long as the IRGC grants a gaming license to a casino project. Riverside, looking to avert competition in Cedar Rapids, a key market for its casino situated approximately 30 air miles to the south, argues that the wording of the 2021 Linn County referendum was defective.
The petition put forth by Riverside requesting declaratory relief claims that the 2021 referendum, which obtained 55% approval from Linn County voters, did not authorize gambling but merely continued gaming provisions that were part of a 2013 referendum.
"If approved by a majority of voters, operation of gambling games with no wager or loss limits may continue,” the 2021 ballot question asked.
Riverside claims that the question only pertains to the continuation of gambling operations since 2013. However, as Linn County has never hosted gambling games, the 2021 referendum had no repercussions apart from prolonging the county's nonexistent gaming situation.
The IRGC directed its staff to establish a timeline for the consideration of the petition.
Attorneys representing the county and Cedar Rapids, along with backers of the Cedar Crossing Casino, which includes the Cedar Rapids Development Group, the Linn County Gaming Association, and Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, will initially present their argument for why the 2021 referendum permitted the creation of a casino within the county. Subsequently, the state gaming agency will allow Riverside time to respond before reaching a conclusion on the declaratory relief request.
Although the IRGC accepted Riverside’s petition for review, the commission did not endorse another appeal requesting the state to stop its consideration of the $275 million Cedar Crossing Casino. A postponement in the IRGC’s deliberation of Cedar Crossing would have given state lawmakers extra time to reinstate a moratorium on new gaming licenses in Iowa, which is largely anticipated to occur after the Legislature reconvenes in January.
The IRGC’s schedule for reviewing the Cedar Crossing Casino proposal is set to conclude on February 6 when the agency will cast a vote on whether to issue a casino license for the project. This implies that Iowa lawmakers will have only 16 session days to pass a new casino moratorium bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ (R) desk.
Reynolds has remained neutral regarding the efforts for and against a casino in Iowa’s second-largest city. She stated in August that she wouldn't form an opinion until compelled to do so by the Legislature.
Iowa’s gaming legislation does not impose a cap on the number of casino licenses that the IRGC can issue. Nevertheless, the state can only award gaming concessions for projects in counties where a local ballot referendum supports the implementation of slot machines, table games, and sports betting.
Iowa also mandates its casinos to contribute to charities. The gaming law stipulates that at least 3% of each casino’s annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) must be allocated to its corresponding charitable organization, which then redistributes the funds to community nonprofits.
The developers of the Cedar Crossing Casino have committed to donating 8% of their gross gaming revenue to charitable causes.
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