Nebraska lawmakers recently voted 27-11 to remove from Legislative Bill 561 a provision allowing people to play keno on their mobile phones as long as they were physically in a place where keno was allowed. The proposal had been added to help local bars and keno parlors compete with racinos, which voters approved last November, along with laws regulating the casinos and directing tax revenue to property tax relief. Currently, state law allows people to play keno only with paper cards.
Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers had argued that the electronic keno provision, introduced by state Senator Tom Briese, would cause the casino bill to be defeated. Hilgers said, “If we fail to do this, we will have failed in our responsibility to implement the will of the voters. I think that would be a black mark on this institution.”
State Senator Steve Lathrop urged his colleagues to keep the electronic keno provision in the bill. He said without it, local keno parlors would have a competitive disadvantage which would impact communities that rely on keno.
Governor Pete Ricketts had warned lawmakers in March that voters did not approve electronic keno when they voted for the gambling amendment. He threatened to veto the measure if the keno language wasn’t removed.
The measure, placed on the ballot through an initiative petition drive, requires 33 votes from House members to take effect. At least two-thirds of legislators are required to approve laws passed by a citizen initiative.
LB 561 also would ban using credit cards for gambling in the casinos, raise the age limit for horseracing from 19 to 21 years of age to match casinos and allow people ban themselves from casinos.
In addition, the bill would require background checks for anyone applying for gaming operator licenses and would create new criminal categories for cheating, manipulating slot machines or allowing underage people to gamble. Also, it would merge the existing State Racing Commission with the coming Nebraska Gaming Commission, creating a 7-member State Racing and Gaming Commission.
