A group called Keep the Money in Nebraska that wants to authorize casinos in Nebraska has breathed new life into a petition campaign that would let voters decide the issue in 2020.
The initiative, if passed, would allow gaming at state licensed horse racetracks. It is being funded by Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. The name of the campaign says it all, and refers to tax revenue that organizers argue is being lost to states that have casinos, such as neighboring Iowa.
Ho-Chunk President and CEO Lance Morgan stated, “Nebraskans’ money is funding other states’ priorities. There’s a lot of good this money can do right here in Nebraska.”
The report cites data from a 2013 study by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission which concluded that state residents spent about $327 million in that state’s casinos.
A similar campaign in 2016 failed to submit enough signatures. Organizers turned in 120,000 signatures, but the Secretary of State tossed out 42,000.
Meanwhile state legislators are working on a bill that would tighten rules on skill-based games that are cropping up all over the state—but especially at convenience stores.
The legislature last week gave a first-round nod to LB 538, which would create an approval process for machines that dispense cash prizes or other rewards that have a cash value. The goal is to show that the machines are not forms of gambling.
According to testimony by the bill’s author Steve Lathrop, the bill would “limit” gambling. He said, There’s a whole class of things happening right now that are games of chance that this bill would eliminate,” adding, “There’s also ease of enforcement, you would get pre-approval instead of seizure of each machine.”
Lathrop said his goal was “to develop a process so we can make a determination in advance, instead of going out to a bar owner or the VFW or wherever these machines may be found and seizing them and doing this one machine at a time.”
The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that the difference between a skill game or a gambling device revolves around whether skill or chance are the predominant feature.
The problem with the current law, said Lathrop, is that it requires that police seize the machines to test them. His bill would require the games be submitted ahead of time to the Department of Revenue to be tested.
The bill passed its first test by a vote of 34 to 0.
