Casino backers’ long-held dreams to build a gambling facility in Cedar Rapids stayed alive early Saturday after the Iowa Senate didn’t take up a five-year extension of a moratorium advanced by House lawmakers that would have blocked new casino licenses and tightened restrictions on new licenses awarded beyond 2029.

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The gambling regulations were part of Senate File 2427 and would have again thwarted Cedar Rapids’ potential third try for a gaming facility near downtown. The House passed the amendment extending the pause in a 71-21 vote and advanced the final bill, 76-16. The Senate adjourned the legislative session without considering the measure.

The two-year pause lawmakers enacted in 2022 is slated to end come July.