The moratorium on new gambling licenses imposed by the state legislature is set to expire at the end of this month.
Racing and Gaming Commission administrator Tina Eick says they are prepared for a discussion of their next step. “The Commission has signaled at the last meeting in June that they would be discussing what to do with any potential applications at its July 8th meeting in Altoona at Prairie Meadows,” she says. A group in Cedar Rapids announced it will seek an application.
Eick says the Racing and Gaming Commission discussion will likely center on the impact of any new licenses. “Historically what the commission has done as a part of any application process for considering new facilities or new licenses would be to conduct a new or its own specific market study at that point in time,” Eick says. She says they will have a full discussion of any issues involving new licenses. “The commission would be looking to gather as much information about any new facility and what the impact good or bad would be to a new license,” Eick says.
The IRGC denied previous license requests for a Cedar Rapids casino in 2014 and 2017 based in part on concerns of the impact on the existing casinos.
