A gambling bill that Iowa House leaders are pushing quickly to the floor could generate roughly $80 million in revenue for the state, a key legislator said Thursday.
About $70 million of that will likely be contained in an amendment allowing Iowans to play in live poker tournaments online, something state Representative Brian Quirk said an estimated 80,000 in the state already do illegally.
Quirk (D-New Hampton) said he wants to create a safe, regulated environment for those players, many of which are currently using offshore gambling Web sites that offer little protection to users.
"They're giving out their credit-card number to do it and it's just kind of [fraught] with fraud and a lot of risk," Quirk said.
Fellow subcommittee member Representative Doug Struyk (R-Council Bluffs) agreed. "Right now what's going on is illegal, offshore, and very risky for Iowans," Struyk said. "This would bring it under control of the Racing & Gaming Commission and only be legal intrastate."
The idea is for players to go to one of the state's 17 casinos and deposit money -- cash only -- into an account. The casino would then give the player an online account and password through which secure, live gaming against other Iowans would take place.
Quirk said there has been some push-back from colleagues on that proposal, but he stressed that moving forward on that idea could put Iowa in an enviable position should the federal government allow interstate online gaming, as is currently being discussed.
"The reason why I'm interested in it is, if Iowa can be the first to do this, that we could establish a nexus in Iowa," Quirk said. "My thought is it would generate a substantial amount of tax revenues for the state."
Quirk said Iowa could become a model for other states considering such online gaming, and software companies could end up basing themselves in the state as a result.
"If that does happen Iowa will be poised to be in the driver's seat on this stuff and grow a pretty substantial industry in the state," Quirk said.
Pharmacy Board Supports Medical Marijuana
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously to recommend the state allow marijuana use for medical purposes, although the board's chair believes it will be at least a year before medical marijuana becomes legal in Iowa; the legislation did not clear the legislature's recent funnel deadline.
"It was a long process, a lot of work for a lot of people, but now it's in the hands of the legislature for how fast it goes through," said board Chair Vernon Benjamin.
The board recommended rescheduling the drug from Schedule I to Schedule II. Schedule II drugs are recognized as having a currently accepted medical use, while Schedule I drugs are not. The board also recommended the legislature appoint a committee to discuss the parameters of a medical-marijuana program by getting input from other states' programs.
"A lot of them have made a lot of big mistakes, and our intentions are to make sure that the Iowa program got developed where we could eliminate a lot of the potholes that other states have had," Benjamin said.
Benjamin said he thinks there should be several key parts in an Iowa law:
- Patients should vaporize rather than smoke the drug;
- There should be some form of ID-card system;
- The state should tax the drug; and
- There should be a government-run marijuana dispensary rather than individual growers.
The 14 states that have medical marijuana programs have varying laws, but Benjamin sees individual growers as a potential pitfall.
Senator Joe Bolkcom (D-Iowa City), who presented a bill on medical marijuana during the 2009 session, said he will refine that bill for the 2011 session instead of trying to move it forward this year.
"I don't think we're going to find common ground this session on this bill," Bolkcom said. "There's too many other important pieces of business to conduct, and we don't have a consensus at this point on the language that can move forward."
Bolkcom said the Iowa Board of Pharmacy did a good job of providing a forum for people to speak on the issue over the past several months. He also said he likes the board's recommendation to bring stakeholders together for a committee to discuss an Iowa medical-marijuana system.
Legislative Leaders Release Budget Targets
A framework for the Fiscal Year 2011 state budget released by Iowa legislative leaders would spend $474.7 million less in the general fund than recommended by Governor Chet Culver and $260.8 million less than the current fiscal year, which amounts to about a 5-percent cut.
The biggest difference is in health and human services, where Democratic lawmakers have projected spending $372.3 million less than recommended by Culver. In education, lawmakers project spending $16.6 million less than recommended by the governor.
The release of budget targets is the first step in the legislature's budgeting process. The seven budget subcommittees will now craft specific legislation with their priorities.
Helping lawmakers to balance the budget this year is an estimated $250 million in savings from government reorganization. That includes more than $120 million in savings from Senate File 2088, nearly $60 million from early retirement of state workers, and more than $70 million through an executive order by Culver.
Lawmakers are also conducting a review of corporate tax credits to determine which ones aren't creating jobs or accomplishing their goals. They plan to fix or eliminate ineffective corporate tax credits.
The budget targets amount to about $2.5 billion because they only include spending by seven budget subcommittees.
Left out of the numbers are general-fund spending in the standings bill (which includes K-12 education), cash-reserve fund transfers, or any revenue adjustments (such as ending tax credits).
"These targets give the public an incomplete picture of the Democrats' spending plan," said House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha).
Rants Ends Campaign for Governor
State Representative Chris Rants (R-Sioux City) has announced that he is ending his campaign for governor.
"Last fall it became evident that my campaign was a long shot," Rants said. "I continued out of a belief that campaigns should be about issues and ideas, and it was worth the effort to shape the public debate around issues that concern my supporters and me. It is now clear that those opportunities for such a debate are not materializing, and I cannot in good conscience accept or solicit support for an effort I know will be ultimately unsuccessful."
Rants is a former Iowa House speaker, majority leader, and minority leader. Last month, a campaign-finance report showed he had raised about $78,000 last year and had only $6,400 left for his gubernatorial campaign.
That compares with the $1.55 million former Governor Terry Branstad reported raising in less than three months last year, the $595,740 received by Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats, and the $100,114 raised by state Representative Rod Roberts (R-Carroll).
Rants said that fundraising froze and pledges never came through after Branstad got into the race. "Pledges never came through. Past donors froze up," Rants said. "We couldn't compete ... I think the donor community has made up their minds who they're going to support."
With Rants' departure from the race, Branstad, Roberts, and Vander Plaats are the three remaining Republicans vying for the right to challenge Culver in November.
Iowa National Guard Preparing for Largest Call-Up Since World War II
The Iowa National Guard is currently at its lowest number of personnel deployed overseas since the beginning of the war more than eight years ago but is preparing for what would be the largest single-unit call-up since World War II, Brigadier General Timothy Orr said during a speech to the legislature.
Orr, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, gave a "Condition of the Guard" speech before a joint session. He said that of the 73 Iowans who have died in the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 20 soldiers were members of the Iowa National Guard.
"Continued stability in Iraq and the Army's gradual improvements with balancing its forces are moving us closer to realizing the goal of one-year deployments every four to five years for reserve component units," Orr said. "Currently, with less than 200 soldiers and airmen deployed overseas, the Iowa National Guard at its lowest number of personnel deployed since the beginning of the war."
Soldiers mobilized early in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in some cases had mere days notice, but today they have typically more than a year to prepare, providing more stability and predictability, Orr said.
Last October, an estimated 3,500 soldiers were alerted of a possible mobilization this fall to Afghanistan. It would be the largest single unit call-up of its type since World War II.
"By far our two most significant and anticipated deployments are the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and the 734th Agribusiness Development Team for potential mobilizations to Afghanistan," Orr said. "Almost every community in Iowa will be affected in some way by this deployment. The 2nd Brigade is full of veterans from previous deployments and the leadership team deploying is among the best in the Iowa National Guard."
At Session's Halfway Point, Mixed Reviews from State Parties
The legislature has completed the first half of the 2010 Iowa legislative session, and Republicans and Democrats have vastly different assessments of how much has been accomplished so far.
As signs of progress, Democrats point to $265 million in savings projected from a government-reorganization bill, executive order, and early-retirement package, along with a state budget that will spend $260.8 million less than the current fiscal year.
The two pieces each represent 5 percent of the state's $5-billion budget, for a total reduction of 10 percent between the current fiscal year and the one that begins July 1.
"We said back in December that we were going to work on a plan that would save $200 million to $300 million," said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs). "I think that's a pretty significant accomplishment; $265 million, that's 5 percent more across-the-board out of the state budget that we don't have to cut because we've come up with those savings."
"This government reorganization plan, I think a lot of people doubted that it would be real," said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines). "We're doing right by Iowans and we're protecting our priorities."
But Republicans are getting frustrated that other bills about issues like cowl lamps, lead wheel weights, and puppy mills are being debated at a time the state has a $1-billion shortfall and more than 100,000 Iowans are out of work. Those bills were among about 50 approved this week by the Iowa House.
"I am getting frustrated with the agenda," said House Minority Leader Paulsen. "The only five jobs that I can find that the Iowa House of Representatives did to help create this week was five new government inspectors for dog breeders. That's what we did for jobs in the state of Iowa this week."
"We're well into the midway point of the session and we have yet to talk about jobs," said Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton).
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. Reporter Andrew Duffelmeyer and other correspondents contributed to this report.
