Sioux Falls – Senator Scott Heidepriem today sent a clear shot across the bow of the state of Iowa when he held a press conference on the grounds of the Larchwood casino building site and said that as Governor, he would pave the way for a Sioux Falls Casino that would effectively block a drainage of South Dakota dollars into Iowa while generating revenue here to build the long hoped for Event Center in Sioux Falls without raising taxes.

“The money folks in Iowa think they can walk all over South Dakota by building a casino five miles from our border, taking our citizens’ money while they hire only Iowa-based companies to build and service the casino. They are wrong. They want a fight with South Dakota, they got one. My message to Iowa is this, ‘Don’t mess with South Dakota, you won’t win – not on my watch,’” Heidepriem said.

Heidepriem was referring to the casino being built five miles across the South Dakota border in Larchwood, Iowa. Under Iowa law, the casino must be built and serviced by Iowa companies, freezing out South Dakota builders and vendors.

“97 days from today, the day after I am elected, I will convene a task force to list our options to confront this attempt to exploit our population base. I would prefer no casino at all, but if there is going to be one, we should share in any potential benefits and should address gambling treatment care, law enforcement needs and the real possibility that building a casino here will allow us to build a new Event Center,” Heidepriem said.

Heidepriem believes that the 2011 session is not too late to deal with this untenable affront to South Dakota.