Protect Nebraska from Unlimited Casino Gambling – Vote NO on 429, 430, 431

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Protect Nebraska from Unlimited Casino Gambling – Vote No on 429, 430, 431

1. Nebraska’s leadership is united against gambling, trust them.

Who is for casinos? Gambling operators. They stand to make millions.

  • Nebraska’s leaders oppose 429, 430, and 431: Governor Pete Ricketts, Congressman Tom Osborne, Senator Bob Kerrey, Senator Mike Johanns, Governor Dave Heineman, Governor Kay Orr, Ron Brown, Warren Buffett, Chuck Hassebrook, Johnny Rodgers and many others.

2. 429 allows 24/7 gambling anywhere across Nebraska, including your community.

The initiative abolishes our constitutional protection against casinos. Instead, unelected commissioners could allow gambling at any “licensed racetrack enclosure.”

  • A “racetrack” could offer 24/7 casino gambling 365 days/year by holding just one race per year. Such “licensed racetrack enclosures” could open across the state.
  • 429 authorizes every kind of gambling—slot machines, sports betting, online gambling—with no oversight from the legislature or public.
  • 429 also automatically and immediately allows tribes to operate their own casinos – unlimited, untaxed, and no local control.

3. Casino gambling will INCREASE Nebraska taxes.

Casino gambling creates social costs that ruin lives, families, businesses, and communities. But gambling operators don’t pay for these harms. Taxpayers do.

  • Iowa has raised taxes since gambling moved in.
  • Think “ABCs”: Addiction. Bankruptcies. Crime.
  • Casino states tax their citizens more heavily than states without casinos, concludes Creighton University Economist Dr. Ernie Goss in a 2019 study.

4. “Keep the Money in Nebraska” is a lie. Casinos drain money out of economies.

“Slots in Nebraska will just drain more money out of the state,” says John E. Anderson, University of Nebraska Department of Economics.

  • CEO Warren Buffett says, “It’s just a big loser for everyone…you don’t need more of it.”
  • When Detroit voters approved casinos to “stop” $500 million going across the river to Windsor, Canada, more people got hooked on gambling and gambling losses increased to $700 million.
  • Just one casino in Omaha would increase gambling losses in Omaha by 66% and add $132 million in social costs while Nebraskans will continue to gamble in Iowa, according to a 2002 Omaha Chamber of Commerce study.

Protect our constitution. Protect Nebraska’s Good Life.

Vote NO on 429, 430 & 431

Protect Nebraska’s Constitution — Protect the Good Life

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Protect Nebraska’s Constitution
Protect the Good Life

Vote “NO” on #429, #430, #431

Voters will be asked to amend Nebraska’s constitution to legalize all forms of gambling on the 2020 ballot. If approved, casinos could be built not only at racetracks, but anywhere Native American tribes own land in Nebraska—whether at a racetrack or not—permitting casinos to be built across the entire state.

1. Casino Gambling Will NOT Provide Property Tax Relief

Casino gambling creates economic and social costs that ruin lives, families, businesses, and communities. But gambling operators don’t pay for these harms. Taxpayers do.

  • More gambling = higher taxes. For every $1 of gambling revenue the state must spend $3 on social costs.
  • A 2019 study by prominent Creighton University economics professor Dr. Ernie Goss concluded casino states tax their citizens more heavily than states without casinos.
  • Iowa has raised taxes since gambling moved in. We call it the ABCs: Addiction. Bankruptcies. Crime.
  • Gambling interests claim “property tax relief” but cannot prove it. It’s a hoax.

2. Keep the Money in Nebraska is a Lie

“Slots in Nebraska will just drain more money out of the state,” says John E. Anderson, University of Nebraska Department of Economics.

  • In 1996, Michigan voters approved casinos to “stop” the $500 million going over the border to Ontario, Canada.  With the increase in gambling, now $700 million leaves the state.
  • In 2003, a study for the Omaha Chamber of Commerce concluded that just one, average size casino operating in Omaha  would increase gambling losses in the Omaha metro area by 66% and result in $132 million in social costs.
  • CEO Warren Buffett says, “There’s nothing getting developed. It’s a transfer of money…You don’t need more of  it”.

3. #429 Changes our Constitution to Legalize Limitless Forms of All Casino Gambling

  • Legalizing even one slot machine automatically allows Native American tribes to open as many casinos as they  want –  untaxed, unlimited, and greatly unregulated.
  • Changing our constitution will allow slot machines, the “crack-cocaine of gambling,” sports gambling, and full- blown casinos across Nebraska.

 “Fellow Nebraskans, we implore you to join us in protecting the integrity of the Constitution and the “good life” in this state by voting “no” on any and all proposed amendments to expand gambling in this state.”
– Tom Osborne & State Senator Ernie Chambers

Nebraska should not be for sale.

Don’t let gambling interests change our constitution and state forever to line their own pockets.

 Vote “NO” on #429, #430 & #431

 

GWGL Update from Pat

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Greetings, it has been awhile since I last caught you up on what’s happening in the
“Gambling World” or even better the “Anti-Gambling World”.

We are now in our 25th year of success – no expanded gambling in Nebraska in the last 25 years. This is a miracle and one for which we give God all the glory.

But, do you think that the gambling interests have given up?  No way! They are back again this year, greedier than ever.

Here’s what we are facing in 2020:

 

  • LB 980 by Sen. Tom Brandt
    Loosen restrictions on special lottery & raffle permits plus allow for on-line betting– this hearing was held on Jan. 27th and we sent two letters to the committee expressing our concerns that credit cards not be permitted with any form of betting. No action has been taken as yet.

 

The following Bills will be heard by the General Affairs committee on Feb. 10th at 1:30 PM in room #1510. We welcome attendance, testimonies, letters and most of all prayers that none of these Bills will be passed.

 

  • LR 295 CA by Sen. Justin Wayne
    Constitutional amendment to allow the Legislature to authorize, regulate, and tax any game of chance. This would have to go on the 2020 Ballot.
  • LB 971 by Sen. Justin Wayne
    Legalize sports betting by way of the State Lottery
  • LB 990 by Justin Wayne
    Permit sports betting, fantasy sports & poker as legal games of “skill”

 

Other gambling activities that we are monitoring:

  • The illegal Ponca Casino in Carter Lake is up and running but there are 2 lawsuits pending that we hope will shut them down. The court system can be very slow at times.
  • The Nebr. Racing Commission voted to put the “Dead Horse” slot machines in the Grand Island racetrack. These are full blown slot machines that play 30 “games” – 1 of which is old horse races, it is a farce. There are now 2 lawsuits to stop them, one of which is the Attn. General’s. So far, no machines have been installed yet so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
  • Then last but not least is the Winnebago tribe’s petition that is being circulated thru- out the state. They have put up $1.5 Million dollars so far to pay for this plot. (poor Indians) If they get enough signatures, get it on the 2020 ballot and it passes, we will have full blown casinos all over the state. What a disaster!

Well, that’s all for now – WHEW ! We thank you for your support all these many years and ask for your continued prayers that God will see fit to spare our great state this year and for many more to come.

Blessings, Pat
402-551-2776

Sports Betting, Ponca Casino, and Slot Machines

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Dear Supporters,

This has been a really rough summer. After coming off of our 23rd year of no expanded gambling in Nebraska, I was looking forward to a rest before the next Legislative session in January. That was not to be!

Our first blow came in May when the U.S.Supreme Court ruled that all states could now offer “Sports Betting.” That does not mean that Sports Betting will automatically occur in Nebraska. Legislation has to be passed first but we expect it will be a main topic when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Tom Osborne said, “I am pleased that it is a state issue, and the state will have a say, because so far Nebraskans for the most part have seen the fact that increased gambling does not improve the quality of life in a state. All you have to do is drive through some states where there’s a huge amount of gambling, and it seems to just pull the general culture down.”

Next on the list of bad news began in November 2017. A three member bureaucracy in D.C. decided that even though the Ponca tribe had lied to get 5 acres of land put into “Trust” for a “health clinic,” they would allow them to build a Ponca Casino on the Nebraska side of the Missouri river in Carter Lake, IA, just a few miles from downtown Omaha. This fallacy has been going on for years and was successfully defeated by both Nebraska and Iowa in the courts. This time the Ponca’s have decided to ignore the current court challenge and begin building. They plan to open next month and will eventually have over 2,000 slot machines in place. Ponca chairman Larry Wright is quoted as saying “Depending on how soon construction is complete the slot machines will have already collected tens of thousands of dollars before the case leaves the courtroom.” What an arrogant and blatant abuse of our justice system! Gambling with the Good Life filed an Amicus brief in Nebraska’s 2008 case that prevented the building of the casino, and we plan to do that again but this will cost us $20,000.00 and could take years to resolve. Meantime an “Injunction” was recently filed by a Carter Lake resident that hopefully will stop the building immediately.

In addition to Sports Betting and the Ponca Casino we also have over 2000 “Bank Shot” slot machines invading our great state. These are slot machines posing as “games of skill” and they were banned in Iowa. We need to get them banned here. This is another hurdle we face for the future.

All of this is a bit overwhelming at times and can really get us down. I have to remember that “God has called us to faithfulness, not results” so we must carry on and with your help we will.

As always prayer is our first line of defense and offense so please pray for wisdom, guidance, individuals and businesses to stand with us, and favor in the courts.

Secondly, we need financial support to pay the legal fees and extra expenses associated with these issues. Our operating expenses are minimal so everything we raise will go towards fees associated with these activities. Please consider a generous donation to keep Nebraska free from expanded gambling. Just one court brief will cost us $20,000.00 but the savings to the state will be in the millions when you consider the bankruptcies, embezzlements, increased crime and families torn apart by gambling addiction.

Please pray for these challenges and donate as much as possible so we can continue the fight. The “Good Life,” as we know it, is at stake not only for us but our children and grandchildren.

Blessings,

Pat Loontjer
Executive Director
Gambling with the Good Life