A bill for an act concerning the licensing and regulation of gambling games, including a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses, providing fees, and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions.

This bill (HSB 80) imposes a 5-year moratorium on new gambling licenses in Iowa, restricting new licenses for excursion boats, gambling structures, or racetracks to a total of 19 licenses issued between January 2025 and June 2030. It requires a socioeconomic study every eight years on gambling's financial and societal impacts, including effects on existing operators' revenue (with a 10% threshold for new licenses) and community services. New license applicants must pay fees (ranging from $5 million to $20 million based on county population) over four years, with fees applying only to new facilities increasing licensed locations in a county. The bill also prohibits new licenses in counties that would negatively impact existing operators or rural areas (under 30,000 population), and bans new applications in a county for eight years if a license is denied.