(Radio Iowa) – The Republican leader in the Iowa Senate says there is gaming fatigue in the state Capitol and that’s why a temporary moratorium on new casino licenses was quickly passed last week. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says “Please just said, ‘We want a pause and see how this shakes out over the next couple of years.'” Whitver notes there was zero push back during Senate debate of the moratorium. “There were a couple of changes that the casinos wanted to make this year that really aren’t that drastic of changes, but one thing that our people wanted to see is they don’t believe we need another casino right now,” Whitver says.

There are 19 state-licensed casinos operating in Iowa today. The moratorium on new licenses would last until July of 2024 — if the governor signs the bill into law. In August of 2019, sports betting became legal and Whitver says that was a factor. “Especially after the sports gaming bill that passed, there’s so many ads, so much talk about gaming, that people said: ‘We just need to put a pause on this,'” Whitever said.

And legislators this year tabled the casinos request to allow wagering on video game competitions, often called E-sports. “Over the last few years there’s been a lot of changes to our gaming laws in the state of Iowa, and then there have been changes that will affect Iowa, like Nebraska bringing casinos on board,” Whitver says. “And so there’s a little — a lot of gaming fatigue within the Capitol.”

Whitver made his comments during last weekend’s “Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S. On Monday, dozens of local investors and Cedar Rapids officials said they intend to apply fo a casino license as soon as state law allows. The plans for a 250 million dollar casino and entertainment complex in downtown Cedar Rapids include flood control measures.