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Bill would give Iowa Gaming Commission new enforcement powers
New legislation in Des Moines would allow the Iowa Gaming Commission to demand unlicensed online gaming operators stop serving Iowans.
Gaming regulators across the United States have been stepping up actions aimed at deterring unlicensed online gaming within their borders. The Iowa Gaming Commission could soon join them if a new proposal in the state legislature becomes law.
Bill would empower Gaming Commission
According to Cami Koons of Iowa Capitol Dispatch, the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing has filed a bill in the state legislature that would amend the current statute governing the duties and powers of the Iowa Gaming Commission (IGC). A draft copy reveals the additional language the filing would insert into the Iowa code.
The IGC would be able to take action "including but not limited to issuing cease and desist orders and obtaining injunctive relief against a person offering games of chance, gambling, sports wagering, or illegal sweepstakes in this state without holding an appropriate license issued by the commission or otherwise being specifically authorized by law" under the bill's tenets. Similar sections relating to daily fantasy games, pari-mutuel wagering, and sports wagering are also in the proposal text.
Without these new provisions, the IGC's enforcement powers are mostly limited to ensuring licensees comply with regulations. Pursuing potential illegal gaming in Iowa is entirely a law enforcement matter.
This proposal could alter that in regard to real money online casino play in Iowa. There are no legal ways to play online casino games for real money in the state currently.
Iowans optimistic for that gaming vertical in the future may not want to read too much into this development, either.
Iowa Gaming Commission administrator discusses gaming's future
Koons shared comments from IGC administrator Tina Eick in her article. Eick briefly discussed emergent forms of gaming like prediction markets.
Koons stated that "the questions the commission has on prediction markets have 'some overlap' with the questions it has on the 'clearly illegal' gaming markets." Eick is also quoted as saying that, "it [prediction markets] lacks some of the consumer protections that we see in the regulated gaming industry that we currently have in Iowa."
However, Eick added that, "the prefiled bill is not meant to regulate predictions markets in Iowa, because that issue is 'more complex.'" That points to the IGC's belief that the landscape of gaming in Iowa will abide by the status quo for the foreseeable future.
There have been shallow attempts to broach the discussion of iGaming in Iowa in recent years. However, none of them have consisted of significant movement toward Iowans being able to utilize welcome offers on the BetMGM Casino app.
Should this bill become law, IGC staff could find themselves with new tasks. The proposal could put the IGC on the same level as gaming regulators in other US states.
