Nebraska lawmakers could be first in US in ’24 to legalise or expand gambling

Nebraska’s state legislature started a special session last week, and Wednesday (30 July) the General Affairs Committee will debate five bills that could legalise digital sports betting and daily fantasy sports.

At the heart of the move to legalise digital sports betting is Nebraska’s high property taxes, which fund education. According to one of the bills, the state ranks among the top 10 in the US in “property tax burden” and “relies more heavily on local property taxes to support public education” than other states. The goal is reduce property taxes by using online sports betting revenue to defray the costs to homeowners.

Nebraskans approved an expansion of gaming in November 2020. At that time, it wasn’t clear whether or not that expansion included sports betting — retail or digital. But lawmakers eventually decided that in-person wagering met the criteria. The first bets were taken 22 June 2023.

Governor behind expansion

Governor Jim Pillen promised to bring up the issue in 2025 if it wasn’t considered during the special session. But Senator Eliot Bostar filed a package of bills last week that would create the framework for legal digital sports betting and the constitutional amendment needed. Any expansion of gaming must go to the voters in Nebraska.

The bills, LB13 and LR3CA, would allow for statewide digital sports betting on professional, college, and amateur sports. Bostar’s bills would require that any online wagering platform be tethered to a brick-and-mortar casino or racetrack in Nebraska. It also removes the current prohibition on betting on in-state college teams.

Bostar’s bills earmark 3% of gross gaming revenue (GGR) to the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund and 7% to the state’s gaming commission for the gaming and racing cash funds.

The remaining 90% of tax revenue would go to the state’s Property Tax Credit Cash Fund.

The constitutional amendment includes the following language that would go on the 5 November 2024 ballot:

A constitutional amendment to permit an authorized gaming operator conducting sports wagering within a licensed racetrack enclosure to allow sports wager to be placed by an individual located within the State of Nebraska at the time the individual places the sports wager by means of a mobile or electronic platform.
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Against

Three other bills filed

Three other senators have introduced gambling-related bills: