Iowa’s Governor has revealed that he won’t be using his powers to veto to halt the state’s Internet poker bill – well not just yet anyway.
The comments concern the senate file 458 or the “Internet Poker Consumer Protection and Revenue Generation Act of 2011” and may surprise some purely due to the semi-optimistic nature of them.
In yesterday’s press conference, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said, “I’m certainly not advocating it, I’ve just said I’m not going to make a decision on something until I see what its form might be. I guess my feeling is we need to be very careful about expanding gambling.”
Iowa could be the first state since New Jersey to challenge their governor to make a decision on online gambling, in this case internet poker, but that doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near a done deal as those in The Garden State will attest to.
The views of Branstad aren’t the same as Governor Christie although they may look slightly similar. In saying that they need to be careful when attempting to expand gambling he’s probably echoing the view that every state’s governor has. The little bit of optimism for those campaigning for Internet gambling will come in the fact that he’s said he won’t deliver a veto.
Since the bill was filed there has also been a proposal put on the table for an Internet gambling bill at federal level that would throw a spanner in the works as far as intrastate poker in Iowa is concerned.
Confidence will now be higher in those circles that are campaigning for something to be sorted come later this year. Although, if you combine this with what Gov. Branstad has said in the past it still isn’t in anyway clearer as to what Iowa will end up with. I mean people do change their mind; otherwise the divorce rate wouldn’t be as high as it is. Supporters of the bill will just hope Branstad’s head is turned the right way.
