A judge ruled not to block the shutdown of TouchPlay machines across the state at midnight Wednesday. Pille ruled that the Legislature didn’t overstep its constitutional rights, but did note that about 3,000 businesses are getting screwed on this one:
There is little doubt the impending ban will financially devastate
plaintiffs and likely force them into invsolvency,” Pille wrote. But the
likelihood of the businesses proving that the legislative ban impairs their contractual relationships is of little consequence because the contractual relationships will no longer exist, he said.
Guiliani spoke on immigration at an event for Jeff Lamberti in Des Moines yesterday. He struck a moderate stance saying, “If you were to deal with it through either extreme” - wide-open borders or large-scale arrests - “I think you’d make a terrible mistake.” He also appeared at a Nussle event in Davenport, where he stressed his experience in dealing with immigration in New York.
The article also says that Guiliani is a moderate like John McCain. Now this is a pet peeve of mine, so let’s take this time to remember John McCain’s roots, folks. Some highlights: 0% NARAL rating, 0% ACLU rating, 100% CATO rating.
South Dakota is giving free gas to tourists, but we’re giving away Iowa-shaped air-fresheners too. Now everyone’s going to visit us instead, SD! I hope all the states start trying to one-up each other on giveaways. First state to buy me a pony wins.
“The bill gets sent down to my office and as I indicated I was going to sign whatever the Legislature passed,” Vilsack said from Hyderabad, India, during a telephone call with Iowa reporters.
In the interview he also explains that he’s not concerned about lawsuits from those who are hurt by the removal. Something tells me there might be a few anyway…
The Quad City Times has the story that the House voted to ban TouchPlay 80-18:
Rep. Danny Carroll, R-Grinnell, who led TouchPlay opposition during the House debate, said the ban was a critical vote for lawmakers.
He said it demonstrates “the will of the Legislature and, more importantly, the people of Iowa that we do not want an expansion of gambling in this state.”
“This is not the Iowa that we envisioned,” he added.
Well, at least Danny Carroll knows he needs his name in print as much as possible if he’s going to survive another election campaign. The story also mentions another measure before the House right now to extend the deadline for removing the slot machines until September 1. Time for a five-month TouchPlay binge!
And in case you’re wondering what’s next, Tom Vilsack has to decide if he’ll sign it. He previously said he’d sign what the legislature sends him, so things are looking good for Iowa casinos and bad for that back wall at Kum & Go right by the bathroom.
Looks like the Senate voted to ban Touchplay, with a 45 day grace period for the removal of the machines.
The Register quotes Republican Larry McKibben sounding strangely (albeit over the top) Democratic:
McKibben called the gambling “the worst form of child abuse” because people who could least afford it were feeding money into the machines.
Rather than economic development, “this is simply a transfer of money from one pocket to another — money that won’t be spent on food, gas, clothing and other consumer goods that help to drive our economy,” he said.
Tim Higgins at the Register penned a story implying that House Speaker Christopher Rants (R) may be accepting favors from lobbyists in exchange for pushing their legislative agenda:
As state lawmakers prepare to debate the future of the Iowa Lottery’s slot machine-like games, the Iowa House Speaker and a handful of other legislators went on a golf trip to Myrtle Beach with a casino lobbyist this past weekend.
The trip included four lawmakers, friends and lobbyist Kimberly Haus, who works on the behalf of Ameristar Casinos and other companies, said House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City, today.
And supporters of the TouchPlay systems feel that “casinos are their biggest advisories in this debate.” Yeah, he meant adversaries, but that doesn’t change the power of the allegations.
Rants, of course, denies any impropriety unequivocally and claims that everyone “paid their own way.”
It’s just coincidence that the lobbyist, Kimberly Haus, also works for Phillip Morris, who is helped by Rants’s strong position against raising cigarette taxes.
AP reports that Iowa’s casino industry is booming, and the figures they offer are pretty astounding. Over $740 million is being invested in casinos in Iowa right now:
Iowa’s casino industry is in the midst of a multi-million dollar expansion boom. Four new riverboat casinos will open in the next 14 months, while ten existing casinos are adding more space. The total is about $742 million.
About 18 million people visit Iowa’s existing riverboat and racetrack casinos each year, leaving behind more than one billion dollars. The new casinos are expected to generate an additional $200 million a year in gambling revenue.
And then there’s TouchPlay, that political football that has gotten more attention than really anything else in the Iowa media (check today’s Des Moines Register for a decent summary of the issue up to now). Political Forecast quotes the Cedar Rapids Gazette:
Blouin said that although he wished the games hadn’t been installed in about 2,900 Iowa businesses, “”it’s kind of hard to pull the plug.”
Culver urged the Legislature to move quickly to enact the safeguards recommended by Vilsack’s TouchPlay task force. He’s concerned that banning the games would negatively affect small businesses that have invested in the machines.
Nussle, who participated through a previously videotaped interview, has said he prefers the machines be banned.
Fallon said he would vote to ban the machines when the Iowa House debates the issue Tuesday.
