Nebraska Legislature Adjourns, Leaving Digital Sports Betting in Limbo

In a recent legislative session that concluded on August 20, 2024, Nebraska lawmakers ended their special session without making progress on the issue of digital sports betting. This session, which was called by Governor Jim Pillen, was primarily focused on addressing the state’s pressing need for property tax relief. Despite the high stakes, the legislature adjourned without resolving the matter, leaving several key issues, including the legalization of online sports betting, unresolved.

2024: A Year Without Gambling Expansion

This special session was likely the last opportunity in 2024 for Nebraska to advance digital gambling initiatives. The year has been notable for the absence of new states legalizing sports betting, a trend that has consistently grown since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018. For Nebraska, the legalization of sports betting was seen as a potential avenue to alleviate its significant property tax burden. Nebraska’s property taxes are among the highest in the nation, with a median rate of 1.61%, primarily funding public education. A legislative proposal by Senator Eliot Bostar aimed to channel 90% of the revenue generated from sports betting taxes into property tax relief.

Despite the potential financial benefits, Nebraska legislators appeared unprepared to tackle the complexities of legalizing digital sports betting during this session. Currently, Nebraska and Virginia are among the few states where residents cannot place bets on in-state college football teams when those teams play within their home state. Although some progress was made with the age of LB 34 —a bill designed to cap property tax increases and provide relief—the session concluded with many other initiatives left unfinished, including those related to sports betting.

The adjournment means that Nebraska lawmakers will need to revisit the issue in the next legislative session, which is set to begin in January 2025. However, because bills from the 2024 session do not carry over, the process will have to start from scratch. The ongoing challenge in Nebraska’s journey to legalize sports betting has been marked by previous efforts, including a 2020 voter-approved referendum to legalize “games of chance.” However, while this included sports betting, the specific inclusion of digital wagering was never fully defined by lawmakers or regulators, leaving the matter in a legal gray area.

Source:

“Last chance for US gambling expansion in ’24 dies in Nebraska”, igamingbusiness.com, August 20, 2024.