After failing to bring the issue of online poker to a successful vote last year, the Iowa state Senate is looking at a new online poker bill as of this past Wednesday, January 23, 2013.
The newest attempt at online poker legislation is Senate Study Bill 1068 and it could lead to those companies already holding other gambling licenses within the state to add online poker to their real money offerings.
A study bill in Iowa is used to test the waters for an issue with proposed legislation under discussion. If the study bill is successful then it opens the way for an official proposal on the issue to make its way through the state legislature.
Sponsors of SSB 1068 are Senator Randy Feenstra, Senator Wally Horn, and Senator Jeff Danielson. The current bill looks alot like the bill that passed the Senate’s vote last year, Senate File 2275 in 2012, but made it no farther than the State’s House of Representatives, currently under Republican control. SSB 1068 will be considered first by the State Government Committee and requires approval of the committee before it can move onto to a vote by the entire State Senate.
The bill would allow for the possibility of intrastate online poker offered by licensees within the state as well as those licensed in other jurisdictions where it is legally authorized, although subject to the Iowa commission’s own added or adjusted requirements. That means “regardless of location” online poker could be offered to Iowa state residents to the extent permitted by law.