Iowa Joins Others In Targeting Sweepstakes Casinos With New Bill
Iowa is not the first state to introduce legislation targeting sweepstakes casinos, and it absolutely will not be the last. This has quickly become a hot topic for legislative bodies across the United States, and most of it has not ended well for the sweeps casinos in various states.
Louisiana and Tennessee have both passed bills like this one. In Tennessee, it just needs to be signed by the governor to become law. The same is true in Iowa, where Governor Kim Reynolds holds the final choice to sign or veto.
New Iowa bill would ban "illegal sweepstakes"
Iowa legislature has voted on and passed a bill that would give regulators a wider range to target sweepstakes casinos and unlicensed daily fantasy sports platforms. Senate File 2289, which is close to becoming law in the state, was unanimously passed in both the House and the Senate.
The bill would allow the regulator "to take any other action as may be reasonable or appropriate… including… issuing cease and desist orders and obtaining injunctive relief against a person offering games of chance, gambling, sports wagering, or illegal sweepstakes… without holding an appropriate license.”
The state Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing initially proposed the bill. It was sponsored in the Senate by the State Government Committee. Previously, the ISGC could only issue warnings to licensees. Now, if it passes Reynolds' desk, the ISGC could have the power to directly enforce action against unlicensed gambling operators. That does include those that offer sweepstakes.
Unlike in some other states, this bill will not explicitly ban sweepstakes casinos or daily fantasy sports. It just gives the ISGC power to penalize unlicensed operators that it deems are violating Iowa law. It won't be like in Tennessee, where sweepstakes casinos have pretty much been banned and are leaving the state anyway.
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No new penalties
Another important thing to note is that this bill will not introduce new penalties. Some states have tried to adopt harsher penalties for crimes such as these, but not Iowa. It will rely solely on existing statutes to determine penalties, so there won't be any new precedents set if the bill does become law.
Those found in violation can face Class D felony charges. Individuals who participate could be banned from participating in regulated gaming in the state of Iowa, but those are as harsh as they come.
Fortunately, this only targets unlicensed sweepstakes casinos. In some states, all dual-currency systems are under threat. That's not the case here. This can be viewed more as an attempt to clean up the sweepstakes and daily fantasy scene in the state rather than an attempt to ban the practices.
The bill will be heading to Governor Kim Reynolds' desk and will be signed or vetoed in roughly a week. Reynolds did sign the bill in 2019 that legalized sports betting and DFS in the state. So, Reynolds is not an anti-gambling governor. However, this is a regulation issue and not an attempted ban. Therefore, it is likely that she will sign this new bill, too.
