Legislation to expand gambling in Nebraska to allow online sports betting advanced out of committee on Monday during the legislature’s special session.
The Unicameral General Affairs Committee passed LR3CA by a 5-2 vote on the 10th day of the special legislative session. Lawmakers were called back to the Lincoln capital by Gov. Jim Pillen (R) to come up with ways to reduce property taxes.
LR3CA is a proposed legislative referendum. For the 49 elected senators in Nebraska to authorize online sports betting, they must first gain electorate support to amend the state constitution to allow such gambling.
LR3CA seeks to ask Nebraskans during the November 5 presidential election if they wish to further expand gambling in the Cornhusker State. The gaming question would come four years after Nebraska voters approved three ballot referendums that legalized commercial casino gambling at horse racetracks and provided a regulatory framework for slot machines, table games, and in-person sports betting.
Referendum Bid Finds Support
LR3CA was filed by Sen. Eliot Bostar (D-Lincoln). Bostar says it’s time Nebraska reap the tax benefits of the many Nebraskans who are already betting on sports online, whether it be in neighboring states that offer legal, regulated internet sportsbooks or by gambling on illegal, offshore websites that cater to states that have limited gaming.
Bostar says allowing online sports betting and taking sportsbooks’ gross revenue at 20% would deliver Nebraska more than $30 million a year in new revenue. That money, his LR3CA proposes, could be directed to the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund.
During the committee’s deliberation of the referendum statute, General Affairs members voted to retain control over whether Nebraska becomes an online sports betting state upon a successful referendum. While Bostar’s initial draft sought to require the legislature to pass regulatory conditions to allow online sportsbooks should the public back the ballot question, the bill was reworked to allow — not require — the lawmaking body to authorize internet sportsbooks.
It keeps power in the hands of the legislature, allows voters to speak on it, and then lets the legislature decide,” said amendment sponsor Sen. John Cavanaugh (D-Omaha).
Under Nebraska’s current gaming laws, sports bets can only be made in person at one of the state’s brick-and-mortar commercial casinos.
Long Odds
Online sports betting’s forecasted $32 million a year tax windfall wouldn’t do much to offset the $5.3 billion in property taxes the state collected from property owners last year.
The legislature is instead focusing on avenues that could significantly help homeowners during the special session. Pillen has suggested that lawmakers send him bills that trim the state government’s spending and eliminate more than 100 tax exemptions that could generate $350 million annually for the state.
Online sports betting is expected to take a back seat, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. Unless lawmakers decide to act on the Bostar bill and it finds majority support in the chamber, Nebraskans won’t be asked about online sports betting until at least November 2026, as the state only permits statewide ballot referendums during even-numbered years.
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