Casino-type gambling is back on the Legislature's agenda after a two-year reprieve. A proposed constitutional amendment that would allow casino slot machines at Nebraska racetracks and earmark 40 percent of the proc
NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 12:00 am
Casino-type gambling is back on the Legislature’s agenda after a two-year reprieve.
A proposed constitutional amendment that would allow casino slot machines at Nebraska racetracks and earmark 40 percent of the proceeds for building roads was introduced Wednesday by Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber.
The measure (LR6) could raise around $80 million a year for the Highway Trust Fund, money that goes to cities, counties and the state for road maintenance and construction, according to Karpisek.
Gambling opponents called the proposal a bailout and a bribe.
It’s a bailout for the horse racing industry, which cannot sustain itself, said Pat Loontjer, director of Gambling with the Good Life, a statewide group opposed to expanded gambling.
“Horse racing is a very expensive hobby and it can’t sustain itself any more,” she said. “The younger generation does not like horse racing. They are used to the speed of faster (machine) gambling,” she said.
It’s a bribe because of the promise to use much of the money for roads, Loontjer said.
“Everybody wants nice roads,” she said. “I equate it to building the pyramids, which were built on the back of slaves. The nice roads would be built on the backs of the poorer Nebraskans,” she said, referring to studies that indicate lower income people are more likely to gamble.
Karpisek agrees that the horse racing industry is in trouble and needs something to keep it afloat.
“We are trying to keep every job we can,” he said. Losing horse racing in a community like Grand Island would leave a big economic impact, he said.
“And we all could agree that we need more money for roads,” Karpisek said. State senators have been looking for road building money for several years as funding from the federal government dwindled.
Profits from the lottery, the state’s current biggest source of gambling revenue, is used primarily for education and environmental programs.
With legislative approval, the constitutional proposal would go on the November 2010 statewide ballot, would allow 3,500 video gaming machines (no table games) total, spread across at seven racetracks.
Only five racetracks exist — in Lincoln, Omaha, Grand Island, South Sioux City and Columbus. The estimated annual gross income of $221 million with expanded gambling is based on 4,500 machines in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Local governing bodies — the City Council in Lincoln — would have to vote on allowing expanded gambling in a local racetrack. That allows for local control, said Karpisek, chair of the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee that handles gambling legislation.
Though gambling is generally an issue every two to three years, most of the current state senators have been elected since the state last considered gambling, Karpisek noted. “Thirty-eight of us haven’t dealt with the gambling issue,” he said.
Nebraskans defeated expanding gambling constitutional amendments on the ballot in 2004 and 2006.
Gambling with the Good Life is rebuilding its broad coalition that helped defeat previous proposals, and plans to fight expanded gambling this year, according to Loontjer.
“We wish we didn’t have to do this. It’s a pain in the neck. But the minute we go home, they will run all over us.”
Loontjer said the anti-expanded gambling coalition doesn’t want the proposal to even come out of committee let alone get on the statewide ballot. “It shouldn’t even see the light of day.”
Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.