Key lawmaker says casino isn’t Cedar Rapids’ only option

Cedar Rapids' uphill, into-the-wind, spinning-on-glare-ice legislative push to get a casino faces long odds.

But. hey, don't fret, the city still could get a consolation prize.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, chairs the Senate State Government Committee, where the casino reform bill championed by Mayor Ron Corbett must pass to survive.

Danielson is firmly against a core provision of the casino bill, namely the part that would grant a gaming license to Cedar Rapids for the state's first smoke-free casino. He says the Racing and Gaming Commission handles licensing, not lawmakers.

'I do not support allowing legislators to site casinos from the floor of the House and Senate,” Danielson said this past week.

'Nobody would be proud of that debate. It would be a ‘Lord of the Flies' scenario,” he said.

And because Danielson is lord of the committee, it's entirely up to him to decide which bills are voted on and which ones die. He's making no guarantees the casino bill will get a committee vote.

Danielson did, however, throw Cedar Rapids a bone by sending the bill to a subcommittee chaired by Sen. Wally Horn, D-Cedar Rapids, the bill's co-sponsor.

But that's not all. Danielson told me that if the casino bill proves to be too heavy a legislative lift, he's willing to help Cedar Rapids get Statehouse help with some other economic development project.

He's not sure what that would be, but contends most communities have ideas and projects in the pipeline.

Danielson said he understands why Iowa's second-largest city, hit in 2008 by both a flood and a national recession, would want a casino project. But if that can't happen, his question to Cedar Rapids leaders is what else have you got?

'I think this is a more fruitful process,” Danielson said.

But Corbett isn't ready to settle for a consolation prize.

'We're willing to talk about anything that anyone is proposing,” Corbett said. 'We didn't begin this journey thinking our proposal would be exactly what makes it down to the governor's desk.

'We're not out of the running yet,” the mayor said.

The bill, Senate File 24, already has the attention of lobbyists. That includes five lobbyists working on behalf of Cedar Rapids and Linn County, former House Speaker Don Avenson, former Senate Republican chief of staff Tom Cope, former state Rep. Brice Oakley, former state Sen. Larry Murphy and Gary Grant, a longtime district director for U.S. Rep. Jim Leach.

Cope and Avenson lobbied successfully for legislation that led to $264 million for Cedar Rapids flood protection.

So far, they're the only lobbyists registered in favor of the bill. Among those registered against are the Iowa Gaming Association, casino lobbyists from Riverside, Waterloo, Dubuque and Prairie Meadows and the United Methodists, who oppose gambling. Numerous other interests are registered as 'undecided.”

Since the measure was rolled out by Corbett and other local leaders last year, its provisions have changed. An effort to gain casino support by offering them a tax break on free-play promotions has been abandoned.

'I thought maybe we could get one or two casinos to bite at that. It doesn't appear they're willing to do that,” Corbett said. 'There's no sense keeping it in the bill.”

Now, the bill gives Cedar Rapids a smoke-free casino, sets a moratorium on new licenses and doubles the amount of casino revenue disbursed to non-casino counties.

I asked Horn how the bill has been received by his colleagues.

'Really zero. I just don't have any response,” Horn said. 'And one of the reasons is I haven't asked anybody. And they haven't come up and talked to me. That's what I'm trying to do, is get a consensus.”

I also wondered when the bill might be debated by his subcommittee. Horn, the longest-serving member of the Senate, has a remarkable poker face, even over the phone.

'I want it to flow,” Horn said.

'Timing is everything,” he added.

'You can't run it too fast. You can't run it too slow. So that's kind of where we're at,” Horn said. 'I would like to get it going next week, but I doubt it.”

So it seems crystal clear that, for now, much of the casino cajoling will remain behind the scenes.

Corbett's best argument is regarding the disparity between casino and non-casino counties. As we learned during the ill-fated drive to get a license from the Racing and Gaming Commission, multiple casinos depend on Linn County gamblers to profit, and in the case of Riverside, survive.

And yet, Linn County and other nongaming counties who provide gamblers get a 'pittance” from gambling revenue.

Corbett points out that Pottawattamie County alone provides $15 million annually to local projects and causes. That's compared to roughly $11 million shared annually by 84 nongaming counties. Each gets in the neighborhood of $125,000.

So, on a per capita basis, Linn County gets the rawest deal.

'We're getting less than a dollar return on a per capita basis,' Corbett said.

The bill would double the share of revenue nongaming counties get, from 0.8 percent to 1.6 percent.

If Corbett and his allies are able to start a meaningful legislative discussion on the distribution issue, I think it's a significant victory. And it's an idea that could gain legislative support.

But I still don't think the Legislature is going to give Cedar Rapids a casino, nor do I think lawmakers will direct the Racing and Gaming Commission to issue a license.

'Lord of the Flies” isn't going to fly. But Danielson's counter offer could create some buzz.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com.