A charity that is helped by funds from
casino may be harmed if a motion to ban smoking in public places in Iowa is given the go ahead. Currently casinos in the state are by law required to given a percentage of their profits to charity, and most have set up long standing relationships with the charities that they support. However, if the proposed smoking ban goes ahead there is likely to be a drop in revenue for the casinos meaning a drop in the amount that they can donate to their chosen charities.
An example is the Rhythm City Casino, which has a contract with the not for profit organisation, which distributes money to charity on behalf of the casino. The Rhythm City Casino gives two million dollars per year to the not for profit organisation, but would have to cut this amount if their revenue fell, as it is likely to do as a result of the proposed smoking ban. A spokesperson for the charitable organisation has said that if it is needed it would agree to take a cut in what is donated to it, but clearly this will not be beneficial to anyone. At the same time however, the Rhythm City Casino would not be able to carry on giving this amount of money to charity if it meant that it itself would fail as a business. If this occurred no one would benefit, as jobs would be cut and no money would be able to be donated to charity.
The not for profit organisation therefore wants another casino to be built in a neighbouring area, so that profits from this new casino could also be given to charity. This plan would mean the two casinos would each be able to donate less money, if they had been negatively affected by the ban on smoking in casinos.
It does seem that Iowas legislators are unaware of their own rules, since they demand that all casinos give part of their revenue to charity. It seems ridiculous that casinos may not soon be able to do this, because of another law that the state has brought in.
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