{"id":102749,"date":"2019-04-13T20:28:48","date_gmt":"2019-04-14T03:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=102749"},"modified":"2019-04-13T20:28:48","modified_gmt":"2019-04-14T03:28:48","slug":"nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association made up of thoroughbred owners and trainers.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lance Morgan, CEO and president of Ho-Chunk, Inc., is advocating for casino gambling at Nebraska’s racetracks. (Image: Sioux City Journal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two groups — through an organization called Keep the Money in Nebraska — notified the Secretary of State\u2019s office on Wednesday they want to collect signatures to get the issue on a statewide ballot in 2020.<\/p>\n

The proposal would amend the state\u2019s constitution and legalize gambling, as well as enact laws to regulate casino gaming.<\/p>\n

If approved, organizers say the state could collect taxes on some of the approximately $500 million a year that residents currently wager in surrounding states.<\/p>\n

Expanded gaming would generate an estimated $50 million in new tax revenue, the tribe said. It would be used for property tax relief, funding of public schools and problem gambling.<\/p>\n

\n

A 2016 attempt to get the issue on the ballot failed because it lacked the required number of names after only about 120,000 residents signed the petition. That is significantly lower than the approximately 450,000 signatures needed this time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the group remains optimistic it will get the needed names. It will use simpler language, fewer questions will be asked, and a new signature collection group is involved, the tribe said.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s a double positive for Nebraska,\u201d Lance Morgan, CEO of Ho-Chunk, Inc., an economic development corporation affiliated with the Winnebago Tribe, told Casino.org<\/em> about the initiative. \u201cWe\u2019ll get some gaming revenue going. We\u2019ll also help revive a struggling industry, and in doing so, give rural Nebraska a much-needed economic boost.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Morgan added that Nebraska\u2019s political leaders say they are against gaming, \u201cbut we have a lottery and any Nebraskan who wants can cross the border and gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Competition from Other States<\/h2>\n

Now, casinos operate in Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and South Dakota. Iowa<\/a> is also currently considering allowing sports betting at casinos.\u00a0The Winnebago Tribe additionally operates WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan, Iowa.<\/p>\n

\u201cGaming is here,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a question of whether \u2026 we\u2019re going to benefit from it, or other states are going to benefit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are no commercial casinos currently in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

Under the proposal, the state would enact a 20 percent tax on gross gaming revenue — which is the amount won by an operator, less federal taxes, other than income taxes, and promotional gaming credits.<\/p>\n

Money Will Go to Tax Relief<\/h2>\n

If approved, 75 percent of the gaming tax revenue will be given to the state, broken down by 2.5 percent for the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund, 2.5 percent to the General Fund, and 70 percent to the Property Tax Relief Fund.<\/p>\n

The remaining 25 percent will either go to the county where the track is located — if there is no town incorporated — or will be distributed equally between the town and county.<\/p>\n

One group opposing the legalization of gambling is the Nebraska Family Alliance, which claims casinos are linked to increased domestic violence, child abandonment, prostitution and sex trafficking.<\/p>\n

Nationally, Native American<\/a> casinos continue to win a lot of cash. A report released last November by the American Gaming Association revealed that tribal venues account for 43.5 percent of the entire US gaming market.<\/p>\n

Some 500 Native American casino resorts employed 676,428 workers in 2016, and they were paid in excess of $36 billion. Additionally, the tribal venues contributed $15.2 billion in local, state and federal taxes.<\/p>\n

It will take a few weeks for the office of Nebraska Secretary of State Robert B. Evnen to review and approve the petition language.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association made up of thoroughbred owners and trainers. The two groups — through an organization called Keep the Money in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":102752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14577,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States - Casino.org Nebraska Voters Asked to Sign Gambling Petition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal Nebraska residents may allow casino gaming at the state\u2019s horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association. Approximately 450,000 signatures are needed to get the question on the ballot.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States - Casino.org Nebraska Voters Asked to Sign Gambling Petition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal Nebraska residents may allow casino gaming at the state\u2019s horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association. Approximately 450,000 signatures are needed to get the question on the ballot.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-14T03:28:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/\",\"name\":\"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States - Casino.org Nebraska Voters Asked to Sign Gambling Petition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-14T03:28:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-14T03:28:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal Nebraska residents may allow casino gaming at the state\u2019s horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association. Approximately 450,000 signatures are needed to get the question on the ballot.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tribal Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States - Casino.org Nebraska Voters Asked to Sign Gambling Petition","description":"Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal Nebraska residents may allow casino gaming at the state\u2019s horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association. Approximately 450,000 signatures are needed to get the question on the ballot.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States - Casino.org Nebraska Voters Asked to Sign Gambling Petition","og_description":"Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal Nebraska residents may allow casino gaming at the state\u2019s horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association. Approximately 450,000 signatures are needed to get the question on the ballot.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-04-14T03:28:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/","name":"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States - Casino.org Nebraska Voters Asked to Sign Gambling Petition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-14T03:28:48+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-14T03:28:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"Nebraska residents may soon be asked to sign a petition for a referendum allowing casino gaming at the state\u2019s six licensed horse tracks under a proposal Nebraska residents may allow casino gaming at the state\u2019s horse tracks under a proposal from the Winnebago Tribe and the Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protection Association. Approximately 450,000 signatures are needed to get the question on the ballot.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Lance-Morgan.jpg","width":1200,"height":900},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-could-vote-on-casino-gambling-as-tribe-tries-to-capture-500m-wagered-in-nearby-states\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tribal Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Nebraska Could Vote on Casino Gambling as Tribe Tries to Capture $500M Wagered in Nearby States"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}