Result of Iowa gambling vote a no-brainer

Mike Glover

Monday, Sept. 23, 2002 | 9:18 a.m.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- One of the most consequential elections to be contested this year has turned out to be a no-brainer with the outcome already virtually assured.

At issue is whether legalized gambling is going to continue, and for those hanging in suspense, the answer is "yes."

Under the state's gambling laws, voters in a county must give their approval in a special referendum before a gambling license can be issued in that county.

The law says those voters must periodically be asked to approve the gambling license, and that question will be on the ballot this November in every county with a gambling license. There are 10 counties voting over 13 properties.

The argument is not very complicated. Gambling critics say it makes little sense to base so much of the state's economic development hope on gambling, which draws disposable income away from other forms of entertainment. They also make a moral argument.

Gambling backers say it is simply another form of entertainment consumers enjoy and they'll go to other states if Iowa doesn't offer the choice.

But that's not really the argument.

Even leading gambling critics such as Tom Coates, who runs a Des Moines credit counseling business, concedes all the licenses will be renewed. Gambling backers are positively busting their seams with confidence.

"The community and civic leaders are running very pro-active campaigns," Wes Ehrecke of the Iowa Gaming Association said. Realists aren't even paying much attention to the local elections, because quite simply the issue has been settled.

The state is hooked on gambling, far too addicted to even thinking of quitting cold turkey or even weaning its way off the habit. Vision Iowa projects are financed heavily with gambling money, and backers have liberally sprinkled the profits throughout the state's budget.

For instance, roughly one-third of the state's environmental spending comes from gambling money. With the economy weak and the state budget in deep trouble, tossing out tens of millions of dollars in gambling profits is not on anyone's priority list.

There is no political consensus on the issue. The Legislature is evenly divided between those who would expand the industry and those who would scale it back, so therefore nothing gets done in the Statehouse. The question of ending legalized gambling hasn't been a hot one in this year's campaign, so don't expect a consensus to emerge in the next Legislature, either.

From a local standpoint, ending legalized gambling is a very tough sell. Cities such as Council Bluffs, Dubuque and Davenport were aging industrial giants clearly on the decline before gambling came along.

Their downtowns were mainly boarded up and crumbling. That's been replaced with splashy hotels, glitzy casinos and crowds of people. Sure, it may not always be in great taste -- no one ever accused Las Vegas of being decorous -- but money is spent and there's clear economic vitality.

The jobs offered by the industry pay fairly well by Iowa standards, and no one is turning them down. From the perspective of a local economic development officials, suggesting an end to legalized gambling is, quite simply, crazy.

Money comes in another way as well. State law requires a portion of the profits go to local charities, and the gambling operations have become one of the biggest givers in the state. The Iowa West Foundation, which gives away money from the Council Bluffs properties, is expected to be endowed at more than $100 million. That's not chump change.

Just as backers at the state level have carefully made the state dependent on gambling money, local officials have taken great pains to spread their gambling largess throughout the community.

The only place where gambling appeared to be in some trouble was in Polk County. Operation of the Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino had been mired in the sort of arcane political backbiting often seen in Polk County politics.

Polk County officials, track operators and other political players seemed intent on spending time plotting against each other at the expense of everything else.

Gambling foes for a while pondered targeting the license in Polk County, because there's a big religious conservative community there and the track had been controversial. They even thought of bringing in some money from other gambling facilities that might be looking to do in some competition.

Within the past few months, track operators seem to have come to their senses, putting aside their disputes for now, and they've run a pretty effective campaign reminding voters in the state's largest county how much they rely on Prairie Meadows.

This won't be the year for a big gambling debate in the state, nor is one looming on the horizon anytime soon.