LR20CA, the bill from state Senator Eliot Bostar (D), would create a constitutional amendment "to permit an authorized gaming operator conducting sports wagering within a licensed racetrack enclosure to allow a sports wager to be placed by an individual located within the state of Nebraska at the time the individual places the sports wager by means of a mobile or electronic platform."
Nate Grasz, executive director of Nebraska Family Alliance (NFA), is opposed to the legislation.
"It's all based on the false premise that online sports betting will generate new revenue that can be used to lower property taxes in Nebraska," he tells AFN. "The big push is for more state revenue, but what proponents don't talk about is how online sports betting takes more money out of your state, more money away from your businesses and local economy, and increases social costs significantly – like addiction, bankruptcy, abuse, divorce, broken homes."
These social costs, he says, are paid for not by the gaming operators, but by the taxpayers.
Grasz is not the only one with concerns. Senator Pete Ricketts (R), former Representative Tom Osborne (R), former Governor Kay Orr (R), and State Auditor Mike Foley (R) have written to members of the Nebraska Legislature about why Bostar's bill is bad for the state.
"Legalizing online sports betting in Nebraska would turn every cell phone, laptop, and tablet into a gambling device, available 24/7," their letter reads. "Online sports betting can lead to new people developing gambling disorders, puts young men in the addiction bullseye, and will take money away from Main Street Nebraska businesses."
As AFN seeks comment from Sen. Bostar, Grasz encourages Nebraskans to contact their state senators and urge them to oppose LR20CA.
He says online sports betting is a direct threat to children and families.
"We believe there's always ways we can improve our state, but online gambling isn't one of them," the NFA executive director concludes.
According to recent data, 96% of online sports bettors lose money gambling.
