In-State College Sports Betting Ban Rejected; Budget Passes After Debate Over Police, Prisons

A proposal to ban betting on college games played in Nebraska fell short in the Legislature today/Tuesday. And senators gave final approval to the state budget, amid debate over policing and prisons.

It was the second round of debate on a bill to implement the casinos-at-racetracks initiative approved by voters last November. And once again, sports betting was a focus of debate. The bill allows sports betting with certain limitations, like not allowing athletes, coaches and others to bet on games they’re involved in. But Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks said she wanted to go farther, by banning betting on college games played in Nebraska.

“I believe that betting on Nebraska college games in-state is harmful to our kids and harmful to the integrity, passion and fun of our college sports,” Pansing Brooks said.

Sen. Bruce Bostelman supported Pansing Brooks, imagining what a gambler might say to a college athlete.

“Hit the ball in the net. Strike out. Take a knee. Fumble. If you do that, I’ve got an advertisement for you. I’ve got $500,000. I’ve got a deal for you,” Bostelman said.

Sen. Adam Morfeld opposed the proposal. He acknowledged potential pressure on athletes, but said that’s already the case.

“This is not new pressure. Bets are being made every single day across the country and across the world on Husker football and other Husker athletic sports. It’s already happening. We all know it. We all know people in this room that do it. It’s not changing anything,” Morfeld said.

Sen. Terrell McKinney also opposed the proposal, saying tax revenue from gambling could help the state provide more services.

“We get up here and talk about finding ways to decrease the prison population or finding ways to better fund our educational system and things like that. This is a way. I know we may not like it and we may want to live in the 1960s in some cases, but this is a way to do it,” McKinney said.

It would have taken 25 votes in the 49-member Legislature to adopt the amendment. Eighteen senators voted for it, with 13 opposed. Pansing Brooks did not do what is often done in those situations, asking for all senators to be called back to the chamber and for there to be a roll call vote. She later told NET News she did not have the votes to succeed and didn’t want to take the time.

Another proposed change to the gambling bill would have rescinded the permission, granted at the first stage of debate, for people to play keno using their phones and payment apps or debit cards, as opposed to cash and paper tickets. Twenty two senators voted to take that out; once again, 25 would have been needed. The Legislature then gave the bill second-round approval. It needs one more vote before being sent to Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has objected to the keno provision.

Also Tuesday, the Legislature gave final approval to the state budget for the next two years. The bills call for spending $9.7 billion, an average increase of 1.7 percent per year. They set aside $100 million for a possible new prison, allow $15 million to be spent on design and site planning, and set aside another $15 million for other possible measures to combat overcrowding, like more classes and training to qualify people for parole.

Sen. Megan Hunt objected to setting aside money for a new prison.

“This commitment or noncommitment of $130-plus million for a new prison illustrates just how quick we are to throw money away at the problem and flirt with the idea of a new prison. But why not spend that money for affordable housing, for healthcare, for food assistance, for education, for the things that our constituents consistently tell us that they want?” Hunt asked.

Hunt linked her opposition to a new prison to her support for defunding the police.

“When I say ‘Defund the police,’ what do I mean? I don’t mean abolish policing. I mean reallocating funding away from the police, which for so long have had a blank check to keep doing more training, keep doing more reform, as they become increasingly militarized and increasingly targeting neighborhoods and people of color. It mean reallocating funds from police, from prisons, from jails, for other parts of the carceral state to other government agencies or programs,” she said.

Sen. Julie Slama criticized Hunt’s remarks.

“Spouting headline-grabbing, inaccurate one-liners demanding reform may get you into the news cycle, but they provide no real meaningful action, and actually keep us from getting to the bills that Sen. Hunt is trying to advocate for,” Slama said.

And Slama defended the police.

“I’m getting up today just to thank the hardworking police officers, state troopers, sheriffs and sheriff deputies of Nebraska who put their lives on the line every single day in our communities . We appreciate your service and will continue to give you the resources you need to keep our communities safe,” she said.

Senators voted 35-3 against Hunt’s attempt to send the bill back to committee, and gave final approval to the budget bills. They now go to Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has five business days to sign, let them become law without his signature, or issue line-item vetoes.