In 2014, former Gov. Terry Branstad signed a law that allowed two Iowa casinos to get out of greyhound racing as casinos had complained they were subsidizing a dying business. It shuttered the Bluffs Run track in Council Bluffs in 2015 and shifted management of the Greyhound Park in Dubuque from the casino to the Iowa Greyhound Association.

Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Pella, said he only recently learned that legislation didn’t entirely erase ties to dog racing at Iowa’s casinos.

“The dog racing industry has fallen in disfavor around the country,” Rozenboom told the Des Moines Register. “It’s clearly not a popular thing anymore. And in my view, it’s time to, at the state of Iowa, completely sever any relationship we have with greyhound racing.”

As written, lobbyists representing casino operators that simulcast dog racing believe the bill would only affect the Clinton casino, which is governed under a different code section than the other two facilities.

Rozenboom said he would look to tweak the bill’s language to reflect his intention to implement a ban of simulcast dog racing at all of Iowa’s licensed casinos.

Animal welfare advocates say industry is not ‘forward looking’

Animal welfare advocacy groups including Humane World for Animals, Animal Rescue League Iowa and GREY2K USA Worldwide supported the legislation.

Carey Thiel, executive director of GREY2K USA Worldwide, which advocates to end dog racing, said Iowa lawmakers should advance the proposal because of the dog racing industry’s animal welfare problems. He said greyhounds sustain injuries that are sometimes fatal, are confined in small cages and use live rabbits for training.

He said Iowa’s 2014 bill signaled this industry should not be supported and thought that allowing simulcast dog races was a “loophole” left in the law.

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican who represents south-central Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District including Des Moines, introduced a federal bill that looks to close such loopholes. It would implement a national ban on greyhound racing, prohibit gambling on live and simulcast greyhound races and outlaw the export of American greyhounds for racing abroad.

“This is not an industry that is a forward-looking industry,” Thiel said. “… This is an industry that’s going to go away.”

Some casino operators push to preserve simulcast dog racing revenue

Lobbyists for the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, Wild Rose Entertainment and Caesars opposed the legislation. Prairie Meadows is registered as undecided because the way the bill is written doesn’t affect the facility.

Jon Moss, executive director of the Iowa Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association, disputed that this allowance was a “loophole.”

He raised concerns about the thousands of dollars in revenue that would no longer flow to West Virginia’s remaining two live dog racing tracks or to the Horsemen of Iowa Simulcasting Association. The association, which is its own standalone entity launched in 2023 as simulcasting waned at brick-and-mortar-facilities, has an agreement only with the Clinton facility.

“It’s not just a little hit or slap on the wrist to the operations of West Virginia,” Moss said. “It’s a death knell to the simulcasting operation operating currently.”