Who registered on SF2085 and SF2470, how they connect, and what their PACs gave. The full report is 14 pages. The data behind it is an Excel workbook with one tab for each kind of record and a source on every row.
SF2085, renumbered SF2470 when it came out of Senate Ways and Means on March 12, 2026, would require sites like Kalshi and Polymarket, which let people trade contracts on elections, sports and other events, to get an Iowa permit and pay tax on their Iowa revenue, the same framework Iowa’s casinos already operate under. The companies argue they are federally regulated derivatives under the CFTC and outside state gambling law.
SF2470 passed the Senate 45 to 1 on March 31 and stalled in the House. A first House subcommittee tabled it April 15. Eight days later the bill went to a new subcommittee, which recommended passage April 27. It never moved again. The House Ways and Means chair said the holdup was “what federal law says.” Kalshi had already sued Iowa officials in federal court.
Contributions to each legislator’s campaign committee from January 2023 through the latest filings, from the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Only groups on this bill and gaming or racing PACs are listed.
| Contributor | Recipient | Total | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids Development Group PAC | Dan DawsonSenate Ways and Means chair | $15,000 | Nov 2023 ($4,000), Oct 2024 ($5,000), Jan 2025 ($6,000) |
| Cedar Rapids Development Group PAC | Tony BisignanoSenate Ways and Means ranking member | $3,500 | 4 contributions, Jan 2024 to Jan 10, 2026 |
| Cedar Rapids Development Group PAC | Kerry GruenhagenSenate Ways and Means vice chair | $2,500 | Jan 10, 2026 |
| Cedar Rapids Development Group PAC | Shannon LundgrenHouse second subcommittee | $1,500 | Jan 2024 |
| Boyd Gaming Diamond Jo Employee PAC | Dan DawsonSenate Ways and Means chair | $5,500 | Nov 2023, Sept 2024, Dec 2025 |
| Boyd Gaming Diamond Jo Employee PAC | Shannon LundgrenHouse second subcommittee | $2,000 | Jan 2024, Oct 2024 |
| Boyd Gaming Diamond Jo Employee PAC | Tony BisignanoSenate Ways and Means ranking member | $1,250 | 3 contributions, Dec 2023 to Dec 2025 |
| Boyd Gaming Diamond Jo Employee PAC | Carter NordmanHouse Ways and Means chair | $1,000 | Dec 2025 |
| Caesars Entertainment PAC | Brent SiegristHouse first subcommittee, tabled the bill April 15 | $500 | Oct 2024 |
Nothing from Kalshi, Blockratize, Crypto.com, Churchill Downs, the Iowa Gaming Association, Prairie Meadows, Elite Casino Resorts, Penn or Wild Rose to any of these committees under those names. Quirmbach, Taylor and Wessel-Kroeschell received nothing from any group on the bill.
The money runs one way. Casino PACs connect to the committee leaders on both sides of the aisle. Nothing connects the prediction market companies to any Iowa legislator.
Dates are when the contribution was recorded. Iowa sessions begin in January, and the bill was introduced January 21, 2026. This report does not suggest any contribution was improper. Not searched yet: the campaign committees of Doug Campbell and Craig Johnson. Contributions from individual lobbyists or executives, and to other legislators or party committees, were not checked.
The casino side shows up in Iowa with lobbyists and with money. Two casino PACs, Cedar Rapids Development Group’s and Boyd Gaming’s Diamond Jo PAC, gave a combined $32,250 to the Ways and Means leaders and subcommittee members who handled this bill. Caesars’ PAC gave $500 to a member of the House subcommittee that tabled it.
The casino side is not united on the bill. Caesars registered For. Elite Casino Resorts and Cedar Rapids Development Group registered Against. Boyd, Penn and Prairie Meadows stayed Undecided. Their trade group, the Iowa Gaming Association, registered Undecided, and its board holds members from all three positions.
The prediction market companies worked this bill from Washington. Kalshi, Blockratize (Polymarket) and Crypto.com hired three unconnected Iowa lobbyists and gave nothing to the legislators searched. Six weeks before SF2085 was introduced, Kalshi and Crypto.com co-founded the Coalition for Prediction Markets, a national group built to keep state regulators out of their business. Polymarket is not a member.
Caesars holds four seats on the Iowa Gaming Association board and registered For. Elite Casino Resorts holds four and registered Against. Boyd Gaming, Penn Entertainment and Prairie Meadows hold four seats between them and stayed Undecided. Wild Rose Entertainment has three seats and never registered. Read the association’s declaration by itself and you’d count the casinos as Undecided and move on.
One square per board seat. Seats from the association’s website, September 2026. Positions from lobbyist declarations.
Iowa West Racing Association registered Undecided on SF2470. On the Iowa West Foundation’s 2024 tax return, Schedule B lists the same association as a contributor of $7,400,000. A Caesars property, Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino and Hotel, is listed for $75,000.
A declaration names a side and nothing else. The tax return shows a money tie the declaration doesn’t. The report puts them side by side and cites both.
Iowa West Foundation, Form 990-PF. Retyped from the filing, not a scan.
Registered Undecided on SF2470
Send me a bill number. I’ll tell you what the public records can show, and a finished report is delivered overnight.