One down, two to go. The Nebraska legislature has taken one small step towards allowing the state’s residents to vote on legalizing online sports betting.
On Monday, the legislative resolution that would put a constitutional amendment for legalized online sports betting on the ballot for the 2026 general election passed in its first of three requisite full-chamber floor votes.
The unicameral legislature approved Sen. Eliot Bostar’s LR20CA by a 27-16 vote, with six members not voting. It survived a motion to indefinitely postpone that was withdrawn. The bill has now been sent to the Enrollment and Review Initial stage. That is the process of incorporating adopted amendments into a bill, reviewing the language for technical and grammatical accuracy and making any final specific recommendations.
From there, the bill will head to Select File, where lawmakers get another chance to debate the bill and suggest potential amendments. If it were approved again at that stage, the proposed constitutional amendment would be engrossed and head for final reading, where it would need a third and ultimate vote of approval and Gov. Jim Pillen’s signature to reach the ballot.
Proposed constitutional amendments in Nebraska require three-fifths approval (30 votes) of the 49 elected members at final reading, meaning that, as of right now, Bostar’s proposal does not have enough support. So this is still just a step on the road, but the finish line is inching closer.
Nebraska’s legislative session runs until June 9, but bills can carry over into 2026.
A rocky road so far
Bostar’s bill has been on the docket since mid-January and spent nearly two months in the General Affairs Committee. It would allow the six casinos and racetracks in the state to partner with one online sportsbook to offer digital and mobile wagering.
After much debate, the proposed constitutional amendment passed out of committee by a 6-2 vote with bipartisan support last month.
The committee hearings fell into a familiar pattern. Bostar and proponents, including the Sports Betting Alliance and the state’s Warhorse Casino, pointed to potential revenue generation, the existence of an illegal betting market in the Cornhusker State and the apparent fact that Nebraskans are leaving the state in droves to bet online— mostly via temporary border crossings to Iowa — as reasons to introduce a legal online market. Nebraska legalized retail sports betting in 2021.
Bostar and other lawmakers have also suggested they are wary of the industry forcing the issue. “We saw last February that proponents were considering moving forward with a petition effort,” Bostar said, as quoted by local media. “If that happens, with public support hovering in the mid to high 60% range, the version that reaches the ballot may not reflect the careful regulatory framework that this body would establish.”
But at the last public hearing on March 10, the committee received only three testimony submissions in support, versus 51 opposing it. Dissenters have focused mainly on fears that the industry will prey on vulnerable populations such as young men, as well as doubts over the money it would raise for the state.
In a public letter, the Nebraska Family Alliance (NFA) said that former Cornhuskers football coach Tom Osborne and ex-Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr are among the group opposing LR20CA. However, Orr’s successor, Pillen, has said in the past that he would have no problem signing sports wagering into law if it came across his desk.
