DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Legislative leaders are telling the greyhound racing industry and casinos that want to end dog racing to work out their differences soon.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, a Council Bluffs Democrat, says he’d like to see a deal that provides a “soft landing” for the greyhound industry that support the state’s two remaining dog tracks at casinos in Council Bluffs and Dubuque. Republican House Speaker Kraig Paulsen agrees.
The casinos, which provided $10 million last year to subsidize dog racing want the tracks to close.
The greyhound industry says it employs 1,200 workers in Iowa and hopes to keep a track operating somewhere in Iowa.
A bill that has passed the committee level requires the casinos to pay the dog industry $70 million over six years to shut down racing.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
