Slow-growth Iowa needs no more casinos

By Quad-City Times

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When Midwest casino riverboats debuted almost simultaneously in Bettendorf, Davenport and Rock Island, we dubbed ourselves the capital of riverboat gambling.

Today, the river is all but gone from riverboat gambling. The remaining barges look like boats, but casinos make little attempt to tie in to riverfront tourism. Instead, they're marketed around the appeal of wagering, entertainment, dining and in Iowa, smoking, of all things.

We're a smarter, more savvy community now and know that a casino operator's enthusiastic intentions have no bearing on outcomes. If they did, there would be a 10-story hotel on Davenport's riverfront and an RV park on Bettendorf's riverfront.

Instead, the former Riverboat Gambling Capital of the World is a collection of regional, not national attractions, facing stiff competition from a glut of new casinos, expanding state lottery operations and virtually unlimited online gaming.

Our governments are so reliant on gaming revenue, common sense seems impertinent. Remember Jumer's Casino Rock Island's first expansion plan required digging through Big Island's flood protection levee, an awful idea mercifully abandoned after astute challenges by Milan leaders. Bettendorfers tapped into money intended by law for public charities in order to build a conference center for its casino complex. Davenporters built parking garages and a sky bridge in anticipation of a riverfront hotel plan fervently pitched, then quietly dropped by its casino operator.

And Iowa lawmakers who outlawed almost all indoor smoking for health reasons - granted indefensible exceptions to casinos.

Today, casino revenue threats loom large and require sober legislative action to assure we have a casino industry to celebrate 20 years from now. Specifically:

Illinois lawmakers borrowed and spent hundreds of millions for capital projects and counted on thousands of electronic gaming machines in taverns and restaurants to generate the tax revenue to pay off the debt. Yet that video gaming has yet to commence as a conflicted Illinois Gaming Board hasn't come up with a regulatory plan.

Now, Illinois lawmakers are being pitched a new plan to revive the horse racing industry with gaming expansion at foundering race tracks.

Illinois lawmakers should stop this gaming explosion now to protect the casino businesses that have a 20-year track record in the state. Lawmakers everywhere should avoid propping up one failing wagering business by diverting revenue from a successful one. Waning interest in horse racing suggests a marketing job for that industry, not an invitation for the horse tracks to horn in on an entirely different kind of wagering.

We were glad to hear Gov. Terry Branstad clearly state that Iowa's 18 state-regulated casino operates are enough. His predecessor actually encouraged more licenses and clumsily endorsed specific license applications, including one for a group of his most generous campaign donors - another example of casino politics trumping common sense. Now the donors and their Davenport attorney face criminal charges.

Slow-growth Iowa needs no more casinos. Internet poker already is influencing the casino industry as thousands of gamblers are opting for untaxed, unregulated Web wagering through overseas companies. Iowa lawmakers have been considering an innovative plan to give the state's casino operators a stake in online wagering with regulation that protects Iowans. Gov. Terry Branstad is rightly cautious about this new frontier, but we hope he uses his legislative clout to put Iowa at the forefront of online gaming regulation.

Twenty years of gaming experience tells us that these online regulations most certainly will be adapted as online gaming grows in the U.S. Iowa should act this year so that inevitable online gaming revenue growth is shared with the firms, communities and taxpayers who nurtured Iowa gambling the first 20 years.

Finally, Iowa is considering major gaming tax increases in order to grant tax cuts for other businesses. While there is room for more taxes, lawmakers must stop viewing their state's entire casino industry as an unlimited ATM.

Iowa's online gaming bill would cut the state's casinos in on this growing revenue stream and help offset any new tax burden.

Elected leaders who repeatedly turn to gambling in a search for new tax windfalls must know: The windfall days are long gone.