A special legislative session in Nebraska was called to explore various means of decreasing property taxes for Nebraska homeowners. This allowed two enterprising legislators the opportunity to sponsor sports betting bills that could provide property tax relief through a tax on sports betting operators’ revenues.
Legalize and Tax It
Nebraska State Senator Carol Blood (District 03), has sponsored L.B.-28 which would legalize, regulate, and license online sports betting operators and bring tax relief to property owners in the Cornhusker State. Although neighboring states have approved and launched mobile sports betting and are reaping the rewards, Nebraska has been unable to get its digital sports betting industry off the ground.
“You can’t keep controlling morality. We’re very willing to do ‘sin taxes’ when we don’t agree that people should drink or smoke,” Blood said. “Here’s an opportunity for us to be forward-thinking and to relieve the property tax burden, how great is that?”
Alternative Proposal
Another mobile sports betting bill, LB-13, in concert with Legislative Resolution 3CA was also announced by State Senator Eliot Bostar on the first day of the special session. However, Bostar’s LR 3CA would require passage by three-fifths of the legislature for the constitutional amendment allowing sports betting before a majority of voters would have to approve it at the ballot box.
Senator Bostar’s L.B. 13 states the following: “The Legislature finds that Nebraska relies more heavily on local property taxes to support public education compared to other states and consistently ranks in the top ten among all states in terms of per capita property tax burden on its citizens. The Legislature further finds that is important to authorize and impose a tax upon the gross gaming of sports wagering by means of an online sports wagering platform in order to create a property tax relief program to reduce the tax liability of property taxes paid to support public education.”
The bill would also allow the state’s racinos to offer online sports betting on their own or through a partnership with a mobile sports betting company like DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, et al. It would also allow betting on Nebraska’s in-state college games, which would be a boon for fans of the Cornhuskers’ football and basketball teams. However, the ban on college player props and in-game wagering on college competitions would remain.
Hastings Racetrack Ready to Move
The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission unanimously voted, 7-0, in favor of the license transfer for Hastings Exposition and Racing Inc. from Hastings in Adams County to Ogallala in Keith County. The move will allow Hastings Exposition and Racing to partner with Elite Casino Resorts where a racino will be built featuring a quarter-horse racing track.
Commissioner Shane Greckel was supportive of the move, saying, “I was happy to see that industry grow because quarter horses haven’t seen that yet. It’s nice to see it.”
The new racino would be located in the western part of the state and it is hoped that it will be part of a multi-track quarter-horse circuit that will boost local economies.
“Let’s face it, Omaha and Lincoln, eastern Nebraska, is very developed,” Greckel said. “We need to work on our neighbors out there to the west and help them out to make sure they have the same types of entertainment and investments as the eastern part does. This is just that next step.”
