The State of Nebraska could be the first U.S. state to revise its stance on gambling rules.
No other jurisdiction across 2024 has made any state-wide changes to how gambling operators are permitted to offer their services. New bills tabled by Nebraska legislators, could, however, make the Cornhusker state the first across this year.
Nebraska currently has restrictive rules when it comes to the legality of sports betting and daily fantasy markets. This could change as the debate surrounding the new bills (LB13 and LR3CA) is driven by the expensive property taxes that are currently in place in the state.
According to LB13, “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.”
Those in favor of the new legislation would, they argue, significantly lessen the stress on the wallets of the state’s residents. This would be possible through a proposed property tax relief program.
The LB13 legislature stresses it’s “important to authorize and impose a tax upon the gross gaming of sports wagering through an online sports wagering platform to create a property tax relief program to reduce the tax liability of property taxes paid to support public education.”
Governor Jim Pillen called the special session to debate the proposed tax relief process through LB13 and LR3CA. According to the Nebraska legislature’s official news source, Senator Eliot Bostar bolstered the support of new gambling taxes.
The update stated, that Senator Bostar proposed the bill to “change the distribution of taxes collected from sports wagering and change requirements relating to proposals for constitutional amendments submitted by the Legislature.”
Nebraskans are finding a way to illegally bet inside the confines of the state, however. So this untapped tax figure has legislators worried that they are missing out on a steady stream of income.
This can be seen in the 4.5 million attempts that were shut down by GeoComply from July 2023 through June 2024. The geofence maintained by the company enforces existing legislation that prohibits the betting of online gaming and sports betting.
Regardless of the stances of Governor Pillen and Senator Bostar, the people of Nebraska will decide the fate of gaming and gambling rights. They must be the voice of change if taxes are to change across the state alongside the lessening of existing gambling restrictions.
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