Casino RI gets its wish, but gaming law is all wet
We wouldn’t wish a hurricane on anyone, except, maybe, Iowa and Illinois state legislators.
A stiff wind might shake loose the cob webs that leave some lawmakers believing that gambling remains a riverfront, tourist operation.
It took a hurricane for Mississippi legislators to allow decimated casinos to rebuild on safer, solid ground. It took the Illinois Gaming Board three years to mull over Casino Rock Island’s plan to invest $90 million in a casino/hotel complex constructed on a gravel pit that has no river access. The board gave initial approval to the plan Tuesday, marking the first departure from Illinois law that permits casinos only on rivers. It’s a baby step, but it is as far as Illinois law allows.
So far, lawmakers in Illinois and Iowa cling to this fallacy that riverboats and gambling are somehow connected. Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert nailed it Tuesday when he told his state’s gaming board, “The existence of a boat on a riverfront makes no difference to gamblers.”
Casinos know that. Gamblers know that. Even non-gamblers who see these window-less casino barges have figured it out. But lawmakers remain unconvinced, fearing that land-based gambling is some radical departure from what legislatures intended 13 years ago.
News flash: Land-based gambling abounds in both states. And the chief operators are the states themselves.
Iowans gamble $208 million a year on the state-run lottery. In Illinois, state-run lottery wagering hit $1.7 billion, the same amount as the adjusted gross revenue of all of the state’s floating casinos. Add in race tracks and off-track-betting and land-based gambling is the rule, not exception in Illinois.
We’ve supported casino gambling as an economic development tool for struggling communities. We still do. Initially, that economic development was envisioned as riverboat tourism. Like so many things in the past decade, that vision has changed.
Gambling has exploded like early critics predicted. The water requirement isn’t keeping it in check. Instead, it’s adding a hefty layer of costs to taxpayers and casino operators. As the Quad-Cities experienced in 2001 and Mississippi experienced this year, it leaves the casinos and their precious tax revenue vulnerable to certainties of nature. Another news flash: The Mississippi River will flood again and another hurricane will hit the gulf coast.
The Rhythm City hotel plan for Davenport’s riverfront includes millions for flood wall protection and for a submerged frame to anchor the casino barge, all costs entirely attributable to Iowa’s water requirement for casino gambling.
We’re glad to see the Illinois Gaming Board finally act on Casino Rock Island’s long-sought request. But smart lawmakers should have figured this one out years ago.
Mississippi lawmakers needed a mega-disaster to move them to action. Those hurricane winds won’t reach far enough inland to persuade Iowa and Illinois lawmakers. We’re hoping a fresh look at some old numbers below will convince Iowa and Illinois legislators that both states already are deeply invested in land-based gambling.
Arguments otherwise simply don’t hold water.
Land-based vs. water-based gambling
2004 totals for Iowa and Illinois gambling.
Land-based wagering Iowa Illinois
Lottery $208.5 million $1.7 billion
Live and simulcast racing $48.3 million $1 billion
Racetrack casinos $337 million n/a
Land-based total $594 million $2.7 billion
Riverboat casino adjusted gross revenue $727 million $1.7 billion
Sources: 2004 figures from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission; Illinois Racing Board; Illinois Gaming Board.