Lawmakers to Take Up Online Gambling

The upcoming legislative session will include testimony about whether to make online gambling legal in Iowa reports ABC news.

While Internet gambling is prohibited under federal laws, the basis for it is intrastate transfer of funds. In other words, it may be possible to make online gambling legal, as long as it is limited to Iowa residents. That’s not an easy thing to do. Las Vegas has managed in locally by restricting Internet links to their hotels – guests are able to gamble through a secure network that doesn’t reach the Internet at large. However, no one really knows if this is possible “in the wild.”

To gain information on the possible impact of legalizing online gambling, the State Legislature has commissioned a study (now available at the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission website). The study looks at possible financial rewards as well as what it would take to regulate such a system.

a second report, generated by the Iowa Department of Public Health, examines the issue of increased problem gambling this measure might entail. It finds that the Internet is preferred by gambling addicts, both because it is private and because it is so easily accessible. This study warns that allowing Internet gaming would likely produce a crop of new gamblers and raise the number of addicts – although it is cautious about predicting any firm numbers.

In an era of budget cuts and scrambling for money, a taxed, in-state network for gambling sounds like a winner. But, like many such plans that rely on vice, the downside may end up costing more than the money collected. Currently, a portion of approved gambling money is used to fund treatment programs. However, no one is forcing problem gamblers to access help. In fact, it is usually only after serious financial and relationship problems emerge that the disease is addressed.

We’ll have to wait and see what Legislators decide. Will it be billed as a freedom issue or a moral one? Only the next session will decide.