Saying that legalizing casinos in the Cornhusker State will lead to an increase in problem gambling, conservative politicians in Nebraska have come out forcibly against ballot measures to allow for casino gambling there.
Nebraskans will decide next month on a plan to allow casinos at state-licensed race tracks in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Columbus and South Sioux City. Early voting in the state has already begun.
Republican Governor Pete Ricketts, former Governor Kay Orr, former Nebraska football coach U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne as well as some state politicians have joined those opposing the measure.
“We feel that these initiatives are certain to damage that quality of living,” Osborne said in a press release adding that people affected most “will be the family, spouses and children of those have a gambling problem.”
Opponents of the plan tried to keep three measures on legalizing casinos off the ballot, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled the issue can be put before voters.
However, Governor Ricketts has been opposing the plan saying that Nebraskans are generally prudent, fiscally responsible and take care of their families, and “casino gambling is opposed to all of those values.”
The governor points to the case of former state Senator Brenda Council who lost a bid for re-election in 2012 and plead guilty to misdemeanor charges after she admitted to using campaign money to gamble at casinos.
“We already fight gambling addition here in our state,” Ricketts said. “This will make it so much worse.”
Nate Grasz, policy director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, told the Associated press that he’s concerned casinos will exploit low-income residents.
“We cannot protect the poor and vulnerable in our state while simultaneously inviting in an industry that relies on blatantly exploiting the poor and the vulnerable,” he said.
Former Republican Governors Dave Heineman and Mike Johanns and Democratic Governor Bob Kerrey have also come out against casino gambling.
Proponents, however, say Nebraskans can already gamble at legal casinos in neighboring Iowa. The measure is also designed to help the state’s horseracing industry
The main group behind the ballot campaign is Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, which has worked on other job-creation projects in Nebraska and Iowa, according to the Associated Press.
