As we come up on the first funnel week in the Iowa Legislature, one bill that has survived is legalizing sports betting in the state.

The funnel week means that for bills to remain eligible for the rest of the session, it must be out of a committee in the House or Senate. District 47 Representative Phil Thompson serves on the House State Government Committee that passed the bill last week. The major question was where sports betting would take place and Thompson says his committee wants it to go through the 19 casinos with the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

“They got a long history of being effective at this stuff and they’ve got all kinds of algorithms that are looking for weird bets, and are able to flag anything that looks out of the norm. I think they are a really good organization. They are a responsible organization that can do this well. So it will be regulated through the IRGC.”

Other details of the bill includes a tax rate at 6.75-percent, with a portion of the revenue going to the state’s Rebuild Iowa’s Infrastructure Fund (RIIF) program, and to the casinos’ non-profit gaming license holders, and betting being available through a mobile app. Thompson adds that there are also other protections in the bill.

“We are going to allocate resources for addiction help. We’re going to make sure that there are protections for these end game bets, especially for collegiate stuff.”

Thompson encourages feedback from constituents on this topic. Contact him via email at phil.thompson@legis.iowa.gov