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Lawmakers are running out of time to possibly block the proposed Cedar Rapids Casino

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Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Lawmakers in the state who are against a casino in Cedar Rapids are pressed for time.

What the commission ultimately determines about a license won’t matter if state lawmakers enact a moratorium before February 6th.

With just two weeks to enact a moratorium, lawmakers in the House and Senate are debating whether to prohibit any new casinos for the next five years.

There are numerous obstacles that state lawmakers must overcome if they hope to enact a casino moratorium before February 6th.

In a subcommittee, a moratorium is initiated. After that, it goes to a full committee and a vote on the chamber floor. It repeats the operation in the opposite chamber if it passes one. The Iowa Senate and House must approve it, and the length of time required varies from bill to bill.

Additionally, I doubt that any of us are aware of its prospects in the Senate. Naturally, it passed the house and was put to a vote during the previous session, but there are a lot of new members, particularly in the Republican caucus,” stated Cedar Rapids state representative Sami Scheetz.

He claimed that it is difficult to forecast how the legislature will respond to a moratorium because a casino is not a party issue. chamber Speaker Pat Grassley, meantime, indicated that the bill was supported in the chamber.

We’ve been quite clear about where we stand on it, but I also don’t think that if the measure made it to the Senate, I wouldn’t expect us to simply pass it and it would be dead on arrival. I didn’t expect that. “I’d hope they’d at least consider it,” Grassley remarked.

After passing both the House and the Senate, the moratorium would end up on the governor’s desk, where she would have the last word.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission would have the option to provide a license to the Linn County Gaming Association if the measure failed to pass any of these stages by February 6.
According to Scheetz, he anticipates legal battles to revoke Linn County’s license if it is granted.

 

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