Nebraska lawmakers are still considering online sports betting in the state after proposed gambling legislation advanced out of committee on Monday, albeit with a less direct route to potential legalization.
The Unicameral General Affairs Committee passed Legislative Resolution 3CA by a 5-2 vote on Aug. 12, the 10th day of a special legislative session aimed at exploring avenues to reduce property tax burdens.
Sen. Eliot Bostar’s LR3CA proposes an online sports betting public referendum on either this year’s ballot or the 2025 ballot.
However, to get it out of committee, Sen. John Cavanaugh introduced an amendment to the language. Previously, the legislature would have been required to legalize online sports betting if voters approved the constitutional amendment; now, they would have the choice of whether or not to do so. In essence, it introduces another contingency beyond any public referendum.
“It keeps power in the hands of the legislature, allows voters to speak on it, and then lets the legislature decide once it’s legal how proscriptive you want to make it, as well as what you want to do with the money,” said Cavanaugh, per the Lincoln Journal Star.
LR3CA was discussed in committee hearings two weeks ago, with arguments flying in both directions.
The crux of Bostar’s advocacy was that Nebraskans already bet, one way or another, but the state is not getting any benefit. He posited that legalizing online betting, bringing it under state regulation and taxing it at 20% would provide a profitable new revenue stream for the government’s Property Tax Credit Cash Fund.
Just how valid online sports betting is as a potential property tax reliever is still up for debate. Bostar estimated legalization would yield around $32 million across the first two-and-a-half years; Nebraska’s property tax for 2023 alone was $5.3 billion.
Fast-track proposal LB13 rejected
LR3CA is the partner legislation to LB13, which would authorize existing licensed retail sportsbooks in the state to expand to mobile betting.
However, LB13 failed to advance out of committee on a 4-3 vote.
It is now up to the 49-member legislative body to decide whether or not LR3CA comes up for debate on the floor. The legislature is scheduled to debate the Revenue Committee’s property tax reduction package on August 13. After that primary issue is debated, it’s up to the members whether or not they extend the discussion to other bills such as LR3CA.
The Journal Star reports that unless lawmakers act on Bostar’s bill and it then receives majority support in the legislature, there will be no public referendum on online sports betting until at least November 2026. Nebraska only permits statewide ballot referendums during even-numbered years.
Other bills that could let the referendum question appear on the 2024 ballot are being discussed in the special session. But Bostar’s legislation may not even be discussed on the floor in the coming weeks regardless.
Meanwhile, another bill, Sen. Carol Blood’s LB6 to allow fantasy sports, did not made it out of committee either. That proposal is listed by the legislature as indefinitely postponed.
