LINCOLN — Petitions to allow casino gambling at state-licensed horse tracks in Nebraska are expected to hit the streets next week.
The launch of signature gathering comes three months after Ho-Chunk Inc. and the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association announced the petition drive.
Lance Morgan, president and chief executive officer of Ho-Chunk, the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe, said sponsors have spent the intervening weeks refining and double-checking language on the trio of petitions, with an eye to likely legal challenges.
Revised language, filed with the Secretary of State’s Office early this month, makes no changes in the key components of the petitions.
The Keep the Money in Nebraska petitions include a proposed state constitutional amendment to legalize expanded gambling at racetracks, along with two proposed laws that would regulate and tax casino gaming. Sponsors hope to put the proposals to voters in November 2020.
Morgan is optimistic.
He said polling done by the two groups suggested growing support for expanded gambling in Nebraska, especially if the proceeds are used for property tax relief.
The same two organizations worked together on a 2016 petition drive, which fell short of the required number of signatures to make the ballot.
Ho-Chunk has sued the Omaha polling and campaign management company that was contracted to collect signatures.
Four years ago, sponsors said one difficulty with the previous drive was the need to get signatures on three separate petitions. The new drive still has three petitions, but Morgan said all three are necessary for Nebraska to have expanded gambling.
“It’s not ideal. It adds time, expense and annoyance,” he said. “I wish the Legislature would pass something, but they won’t.”
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If approved by voters, casino gambling would be allowed at racetracks in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Columbus, South Sioux City and possibly Hastings.
One petition proposes a state constitutional amendment allowing “all forms of games of chance” at state-licensed racetracks, if the games are regulated by laws passed at the same time as the amendment.
The second petition proposes a state law to regulate expanded gambling at racetracks.
It defines games of chance to include slot machines, table games, counter games and card games, and sets up a Nebraska Gaming Commission.
The third proposes a law to collect and distribute taxes on casino revenue, with 70% of the tax proceeds being dedicated to the state’s Property Tax Credit Fund.
Tax revenues also would go to the county or city where the track is located and to the state’s Compulsive Gamblers’ Assistance Fund.
To make the ballot, the proposed constitutional amendment needs valid signatures from 10 percent of registered voters, or about 120,000 people.
The proposed laws need valid signature from 7% of registered voters, or about 84,300 people.
Check out nearly 100 stunning photos of Nebraska
Check out some of the most beautiful images of Nebraska.
Rain clouds and a bit of a rainbow roll over the Millard, Nebraska, sky on Aug. 16, 2016.
The sun sets behind a center pivot located north of Red Cloud, Nebraska, on Thursday, July 27, 2006.
Storm clouds hide the sun as it sets over Nebraska's Sand Hills on July 7, 2009, near Thedord, Nebraska.
A summer storm passes north of Rose, Nebraska, on Sunday, June 10, 2007.
A rainbow forms over U.S. Highway 12, just east of Valentine, Nebraska, as storms roll over the area on July 25, 2017.
The sun sets behind an approaching storm as a car heads west on U.S. Highway 34 near Union, Nebraska, on April 24, 2016.
Icicles form on vines in downtown Omaha on Feb. 24, 2017.
Railroad tracks are illuminated by the setting sun on May 3, 2017, east of Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
The sun sets behind Chimney Rock on May 3, 2017.
Members of the Boats, Bikes, Boots & Brews group head to shore as the sun sets after an evening out on Lake Zorinsky on April 22, 2015.
Icicles hang from the horse carriage parking sign in the Old Market on Jan. 15, 2017.
Wheat, ready for the combine, is silhouetted by the setting sun as the wheat harvest on the Lagler farm near Grant, Nebraska, was in full swing on July 7, 2005.
A layer of fog covers the Missouri River near the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge on Feb. 5, 2015.
A setting sun creates a pink haze on a windmill and the Sand Hills southwest of Rushville, Nebraska, on Sept. 22, 2007.
Pigeons scatter at sunset as the St. John's steeple is silhouetted against the Woodmen tower in downtown Omaha on Oct. 3, 2014.
The sun bursts behind the clouds over the North Platte River east of Bridgeport, Nebraska, on July 26, 2006.
Steve Jobman, a farmer south of Minatare, Nebraska, cuts alfalfa after sunset on June 2, 2004.
Wheat waves in the wind in a field west of Dalton, Nebraska, on July 18, 2001.
The moon rises over the northern cross of the St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha on Feb. 10, 2017. On this night, there was a full moon, a lunar eclipse and comet 45P passed by the earth.
As the wind speed picks up, a woman holds onto her hood while crossing 16th Street along Dodge Street in Omaha on Feb. 24, 2017.
From left: Melody Borcherding, Kseniya Burgoon and Michael Beltz scoop out a vehicle on Jan. 23, 2018, in Norfolk.
Jeff Bachman harvests soybeans and prepares to transfer them as the sun sets on a field near Ayr, Nebraska, on Oct. 19, 2008.
As the sun sets, sandhill cranes arrive to roost in the Platte River at the Rowe Sanctuary & Iain Nicholson Audubon Center south of Gibbon, Nebraska, on March 12, 2008.
A pair of sandhill cranes pass in front of the moon shortly after sunrise at the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, Nebraska, on March 13, 2012. Sandhill cranes, which mate for life, can live between 20 and 40 years.
A windmill is dwarfed by storm clouds near Crawford, Nebraska, on May 3, 2017.
An early November storm system rolls through the Great Plains, but Omaha only receives rain, which collected on freshly-fallen leaves on Nov. 11, 2015.
Cattle head up to a well to get a drink at the end of the day near Sparks, Nebraska, on Aug. 21, 2015. Smoke from the wildfires in the western states created a haze.
The moon rises above the corn as farmers harvest the last of their fields in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa on Nov. 5, 2014.
Two riders help round up part of the 750 head of cattle branded at the Lute Family Ranch, located south of Hyannis, Nebraska, on May 12, 2005. Mick Knott, who runs the ranch, owns about half the cattle, and the Lute Foundation owns the rest. The work started about dawn and finished about noon.
The rising sun illuminates a tree and a windmill in a snow-covered field located on U.S. Highway 20 between Rushville and Chadron, Nebraska, on March 1, 2017.
The College Home Run Derby was held at TD Ameritrade Park and was highlighted by The World-Herald's annual Independence Day fireworks display on July 2, 2015.
Fog rises from the Missouri River and covers the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge on Jan. 5, 2010.
The weekend's perfect weather colored the clouds at sunset south of Wymore, Nebraska, on Oct. 23, 2004.
Deer chill out at Chalco Hills Recreation Area on Feb. 22, 2018.
A leaf is covered in a dusting of snow near 138th and Hickory Streets on Dec. 18, 2014, in Millard.
A runner emerges from the edge of the rising sun on Sept. 11, 2015, at Zorinsky Lake Park and Recreation Area in Omaha.
Nearly 45 minutes after sunset, an orange and blue glow is seen setting behind the Omaha skyline flanked between trees in Council Bluffs on Jan. 11, 2018.
Rain drops collect on a flower following early showers on May 10, 2017, in Millard.
The promise of rain is fleeting for the seven windmills on the Watson Ranch north of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on U.S. 71 on May 16, 2004.
A crescent moon sets behind the UNO bell tower on Nov. 6, 2013.
Ralph Remmert is depicted in the mural "Fertile Ground" near 13th and Mike Fahey Streets in north downtown Omaha on June 19, 2017.
Ralph Kohler, 94, keeps his eyes to the sky for ducks and geese as the sun rises over his hunting pond east of Tekamah, Nebraska, on Nov. 30, 2011. Kohler has been a professional guide for most of his life, and he is preparing for the spring season.
The sun rises over St. Paul Lutheran Church, located three miles north of Republican City, Nebraska, in March of 2004.
Geese are silhouetted in the color and clouds as the sun sets at Zorinsky Lake on Feb. 21, 2016.
The sun rises on Chimney Rock on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, near McGrew, Nebraska.
Cranes walk through the shallow water of the Platte River shortly before sunset near The Crane Trust, which is close to Wood River, Nebraska, on March 13, 2012. The river provides cranes with a safe place from predators for rest at night.
A bespangled vest awaits a rider during Nebraska's Big Rodeo on July 25, 2013, in Burwell, Nebraska.
Horses stand in the snow on Feb. 22, 2018.
Residents of the Nebraska Panhandle enjoyed unseasonably mild temperatures and cloud cover on Aug. 12, 2004.
Members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association hold their hats as 2013 Miss Burwell Rodeo Olivia Hunsperger passes by during the opening ceremonies on July 27, 2013, in Burwell, Nebraska. "This may be a small town, but it's got a big rodeo, and it's got a really big heart," Hunsperger said.
A break in the clouds highlights downtown Omaha as seen from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, as severe storms passed through the Omaha Metro area on June 5, 2014.
John Wanief waits for the bus in a shelter at 120th Street and West Center Road as cold rain pours down in Millard on Nov. 11, 2015.
Flocks of waterfowl fill the sky as the sun rises over Ponca, Nebraska, on March 3, 2018.
A red tail hawk perches on a light stanchion backed by the moon and overlooking the property near the Indian Creek development in Omaha on Feb. 27, 2018.
A woman walks with two dogs in Memorial Park near Dodge Street as many sledders go down the hill in Omaha, Nebraska, on Feb. 2, 2016. MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
The sun sets over Sidney, Nebraska, on June 2, 2015.
The rising sun shines on a snow-covered hill located north of Chadron, Nebraska, on March 1, 2017.
Storm clouds are illuminated by the setting sun as people exit a football camp in Lincoln on Friday, June 16, 2017.
Sharon Vencil walks her dogs, Blackie and Whitie, along the Field Club Trail on March 6, 2018, in Omaha.
The morning sun burns off a layer of fog just north of the Chimney Rock.
The sun rises behind one of seven wind generators as a windmill pumps water for cattle just northwest of Kimball, Nebraska, on Sept. 17, 2002.
A slightly less than full moon known as a waning gibbous is seen near the colorful Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge on June 22, 2016.
A combine fills a truck with corn during harvest near Wahoo, Nebraska, on Oct. 22, 2015.
Birds take flight at Ponca State Park on March 3, 2018.
Michael Martin of Chadron, Nebraska, fishes for pike at the Chadron Reservoir on May 2, 2017.
The headlights and taillights on vehicles pass by water droplets on a windshield of a car as high winds, hail and rain hit Omaha on March 23, 2016.
The sun silhouettes Cecilia Cathedral as it shines through the rain clouds hanging around Omaha on Aug. 12, 2016.
A bird takes flight in the early morning fog at Zorinsky Lake on Feb. 6, 2017, in Omaha.
Three horses graze at sunset in a pasture east of Valentine, Nebraska, along U.S. Highway 12 on July 8, 2014.
As the sun sets, cattails and trees are highlighted at Island Lake, a popular hunting area at the Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Garden County, Nebraska, on Nov. 17, 2013.