Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers heard from gambling lobbyists that they should expand state gambling to include mobile sports betting, while opponents called out an “industry driven by greed.”
Legislative Resolution 20CA, a proposed constitutional amendment filed by State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, would allow voters to approve online betting in the state. Currently, state law allows casino style gambling at the state’s six existing horse racetracks — so-called “racinos.” Nebraskans approved the change in 2020.
“Nebraska is currently missing out on a $1.6 billion state online industry and $32 million in annual tax revenue,” Bostar said, “which instead goes to neighboring states like Iowa, Colorado, Kansas.”
New opportunity
Bostar said the proposal would be “an opportunity to create a new source of tax revenue for property tax relief.” Before the hearing, Stop Predatory Gambling, Gambling with the Good Life and the Nebraska Family Alliance expressed concerns, saying LR20CA and other similar proposals represent a “direct threat” to families in the state.
Pat Loontjer, executive director of Gambling with the Good Life, said before the hearing that it’s “false” that expanding gambling would reduce property taxes.
“It’s been five years, and I don’t know how many of you have had your property taxes reduced, but no one that I’ve ever met,” Loontjer said. “It’s a lie.”
The Legislature’s General Affairs Committee heard other bills related to state gambling law, including one that would remove a restriction on betting on Nebraska college games when the Cornhuskers are playing at home and others that would make slight revisions to current state gambling law that expands where the taxes collected can go.
“If they want this on the ballot,” said Nate Grasz, the Nebraska Family Alliance executive director. “They should go out and do the work themselves, rather than expect the senators to do it for them.”
Testimony mixed
Several gambling lobbyists spoke to support the amendment, pointing to public polling showing support for online sports gambling.“Five years ago, your constituents overwhelmingly passed in-person sports betting when they cast their vote yes on the 2020 ballot legalizing it with the state,” Sarah Meuli, DraftKings Government Affairs Manager, said. “That enthusiasm has only grown.”
Testifiers against the gambling proposals spoke to the moral costs of gambling, saying that expanding gambling to online sports betting would target vulnerable populations and worsen the “epidemic” of teen gambling.
“The house always wins,” said Grasz of the Family Alliance. “For the house to win, the people of Nebraska and our own children … have to lose.”
Bostar said he feels “6-out-of-10” confident that the bill advances out of committee. The other bills have similar arguments. The General Affairs Committee took no immediate action on the gambling proposals.
Examiner reporter Zach Wendling contributed to this report.