{"id":37284,"date":"2016-07-10T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2016-07-10T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=37284"},"modified":"2016-07-10T10:00:15","modified_gmt":"2016-07-10T17:00:15","slug":"nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nebraska
Could casino gaming be coming to Nebraska? An action group delivered petitions that will likely take the issue to ballot in November\/ (Image: focusgn.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nebraska could soon be voting on whether to legalize casino gaming within its borders after a pro-casino action group delivered 310,000 signatures in support of a referendum to the state legislature this week.<\/p>\n

The group, known as \u201cKeep the Money in Nebraska,\u201d needed the signatures of ten percent of the state\u2019s registered voters to take the issue to ballot in November, or around 113,900 people.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The signatures, however, are split between three petitions: 130,000 for a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling<\/a>, and 90,000 each for two other petitions related to casino regulation and taxation. This makes the margin of approval much smaller than at first glance.<\/p>\n

Racetracks in Decline<\/b><\/h2>\n

As its name suggests, Keep the Money in Nebraska is concerned that too much of the state\u2019s disposable wealth is leaking across the border into the casinos of Iowa<\/a>. Furthermore, casino expansion would create economic development and could help to save the state\u2019s struggling horseracing industry, the organization argues.<\/p>\n

It says that an estimated $400 million of Nebraskans\u2019 hard-earned dough is flowing east to Iowa casinos, while legalized casino gambling could bring between $60 million and $120 million to the state.<\/p>\n

Nebraska\u2019s racetracks have been in decline ever since Iowa legalized casinos in 1989. All Nebraska has to offer in response, meanwhile, is one small casino resort and three slots parlors, all of which are tribal owned.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Keep the Money in Nebraska is being spearheaded by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, which owns one of the slot parlors, as well as the Atokad Park racetrack in South Sioux City. Strangely enough, it also operates the WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan, Iowa.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The rest of the group is composed largely of other stakeholders in the racing industry, such as Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent & Protective Association and Omaha Exposition & Racing.<\/p>\n

Opposition Rallying<\/b><\/h2>\n

A survey conducted by the group found that 58 percent of Nebraskans support casino gambling, although the expansion effort is likely to be met with fierce opposition. Voters have repeatedly rejected video gambling machine expansion when the issue has gone to ballot.<\/p>\n

Pat Loontjer, executive director of Gambling with the Good Life, told the Des Moines Register that she plan to tour the state\u2019s town halls to push the \u201cno\u201d vote should the issue go to a public referendum. She is also seeking legal advice to have the measure struck off the ballot.<\/p>\n

“Our goal is to build a coalition that’s truly grassroots,” Loontjer said. “We want to get the word out.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nebraska could soon be voting on whether to legalize casino gaming within its borders after a pro-casino action group delivered 310,000 signatures in support of a referendum to the state legislature this week. The group, known as \u201cKeep the Money in Nebraska,\u201d needed the signatures of ten percent of the state\u2019s registered voters to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":37287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nebraska casino expansion public vote is now likely.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nebraska casino expansion public vote is now likely.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-10T16:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-07-10T17:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/\",\"name\":\"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-10T16:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-07-10T17:00:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Nebraska casino expansion public vote is now likely.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365,\"caption\":\"Could casino gaming be coming to Nebraska? An action group delivered petitions that will likely take the issue to ballot in November\/ (Image: focusgn.com)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rumors\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rumors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\",\"name\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling","description":"Nebraska casino expansion public vote is now likely.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling","og_description":"Nebraska casino expansion public vote is now likely.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2016-07-10T16:00:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-07-10T17:00:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Casino.org Staff Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Casino.org Staff Writer","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/","name":"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-10T16:00:26+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-10T17:00:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77"},"description":"Nebraska casino expansion public vote is now likely.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/winnavegascasino.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365,"caption":"Could casino gaming be coming to Nebraska? An action group delivered petitions that will likely take the issue to ballot in November\/ (Image: focusgn.com)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nebraska-close-vote-casino-gambling\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rumors","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rumors\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Nebraska Close to Vote on Casino Gambling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77","name":"Casino.org Staff Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Casino.org Staff Writer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}