Nebraska Could See Casino Vote In NovemberGroup Says It Has The Signatures To Put Issue On Ballot |
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A group in Nebraska says it has gathered enough signatures to get a vote on casinos on the November ballot, according to a report from the Associated Press.
However, a vote on casinos is expected to receive major opposition in the coming weeks and months, especially from the religious groups in the state. A lawsuit reportedly could be filed in an attempt to block a vote.
The group, Keep the Money in Nebraska, showed proof this week that it has collected roughly 130,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment petition to allow casinos.
The last time Nebraska voters got to weigh in on casinos was about a decade ago.
An estimated $400 million is spent each year by residents at out-of-state casinos.
Though most games of chance are banned in Nebraska, the state does allow horse racing, keno and the lottery. A separate legislative effort to get poker re-classified as a game of skill and then made legal didn’t gain enough traction and was deemed dead earlier this year.
The poker-only bill was also designed to bolster Nebraska’s economy, the bill’s sponsor told Card Player last year.
“I think it’s like 90 percent of Nebraska residents live within 75 miles of a casino, but none of them are in Nebraska,” State Sen. Tyson Larson said. “It’s a terrible issue. Opponents of gaming talk about the social ills that come with it, but the thing is we have those social ills but we don’t have the economic benefit to go along with them.”
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