Iowa on the Verge of Legalizing Online Gambling

by Jzee

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 09:14 AM EDT

Friends our worries regarding online gambling is soon going to be over with states one after another looking to legalize online and brick-and-mortar casinos in the states. The next in line is Iowa. Reports are going around that the House State Government Committee in Iowa are on the verge of hearing about the proposal by supporters to legalize and regulate online gambling and sports betting. Perhaps other online games may be discussed in the hearing, and if the committee is convinced, it may send the proposal to the Senate for debate and pass the bill. Sioux City Journal reported that they are on the verge of making e-gaming legal in the state.

Brian Quirk, a Democrat who was a part of the bipartisan gambling committee said to journalists that their proposal on legalizing online sports betting language may be approved by the senate committee which may include sports betting on collegiate sports leaving the Iowa colleges. The legalization of sports betting online may not be the only thing; it would eventually open doors for other e-games like poker, bingo, and casino table games.

But opponents of this move are making lot of hue and cry with their legal language. They believe that legalized sports betting will actually depend a lot on the changes in the federal government, and also it will have strong opposition from State Government Committee Chairwoman, Mary Mascher. It is said that the opponents are confident that Mascher would delete any such proposals which tend to threaten the social fabrications of society and dismiss all proposals for any form of gambling or online gaming that would come to the committee.

The cry of the opponents may not be true and those favoring the bill said that such confidence is only to hide their defeat and cover up their failure to stop the bill from discussion. Time has come to change the tone and think of providing legal sports betting and online games to the people in Iowa. Quirk commented that there is no point on debating the issue of whether or not Iowa was a gambling state because it already has 17 casinos. Hence why oppose online gaming?

Republican Representatives, such as Jeff Kauffman who staunchly opposed the gambling expansion, believe that the proposal to expand sports betting online would meet stiff opposition from many sides and those who have constantly voted against gambling expansion. However, he didn’t fail to notify that the current budgetary condition of the state may compel it to legalize the online games for more revenues.

Quirk pointed out that nearly 80,000 Iowans play online poker and other games illegally, and all the money transferred to and from these sites send not a single penny to state treasury. Hence legalizing the games will not only make Iowans play legally and happily from home but also increase the account size of state revenue.

This article originally appeared on Another Harvard Blog.