SNAP benefits extension advances, mobile sports betting stalls in Legislature
By Brian Beach 
, Reporter Nebraska Public Media
April 23, 2025, 4 p.m. ·
Senators advanced several bills to the final stage of debate Wednesday, including a proposal to extend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for some Nebraskans.
Currently, households making less than 165% of the federal poverty level – which amounts to around $53,000 a year for a household of four – are eligible for SNAP benefits. But the amount is currently set to drop to 130% - or less than $42,000 annually for a family of four - on Oct. 1 without additional legislation.
A bill from Sen. Dan Quick would eliminate that sunset date and keep SNAP eligibility as it is now.
That bill advanced from the first round of debate without much fanfare, but an amendment from Sen. Bob Andersen drew intense discussion on the second round.
Andersen’s amendment would prohibit waivers of work requirements for SNAP beneficiaries and allow the Department of Health and Human Services to require SNAP recipients to participate in employment and training programs. He said the amendment would help Nebraskans gain skills and confidence.
“Work contributes to the physical health, mental health and long-term stability,” he said. “Dependency, on the other hand, is correlated with higher rates of depression, substance abuse and early mortality. Encouraging work isn't punishment. It's empowerment.”
Andersen said about 20,000 able-bodied Nebraskans are currently exempt from work requirements.
But Sen. George Dungan said the amendment seeks to stigmatize individuals who are on SNAP.
“It's not as though these benefits are being handed out willy nilly,” he said. “I think there is this recurring theme that we hear about from members in this body and from politics at large, of individuals who are simply taking a handout and not working. And frankly, I find it offensive.”
Andersen’s amendment failed, receiving 22 of the 25 votes needed to be adopted. The underlying bill then advanced to the final round of debate on a 29 to 9 vote.
In the afternoon, senators discussed a proposed constitutional amendment allowing Nebraska voters to decide whether mobile sports betting should be legalized. If passed by the Legislature, the issue would be on the November 2026 ballot.
Currently, sports bets can be placed in-person at Nebraska casinos. But the language of the constitutional amendment would enable users to place bets from their phone, a practice already legal in 30 states.
Sen. Jason Prokop, who designated the legislation as his priority resolution for the session, said many Nebraskans are already gambling in Iowa or using illegal sports betting websites.
“We're losing millions of dollars in taxpayer money, and as Nebraskans participate in the market, we get saddled with all the negative implications anyway,” he said.
Prokop said casinos are likely to try to get the issue on the 2026 ballot anyway, and that passing his resolution is the best way to ensure industry is regulated.
“If a ballot petition gets circulated, and it will, and specifically about petition for a constitutional amendment, the Legislature cedes control,” he said. “Do we want to be in the driver's seat, or do we want to be in the backseat?”
Other proponents of the resolution said gambling expansion – and that taxation that comes with it – could address the looming budget deficit. While the revenue wouldn’t help balance the budget this session, Sen. Jane Raybould said it could help the state’s long-term financial outlook.
“If we're not looking at net new revenue generators for our state of Nebraska, we're going to still be digging ourselves out of a deficit, not only this year, but next year, and the next biennium and the next biennium after that,” she said.
But not all senators were on board. Sen. Brad von Gillern led a filibuster of the bill. He said he isn’t morally against gambling, but he voiced concerns over the addictive nature of mobile sports betting and the danger it poses, particularly to young men.
“Nothing comes without a cost, and this will come with a social cost, and there will be a financial cost associated with that social cost through increased bad debts, through gambling addiction, through impact to families,” he said.
And Sen. Brian Hardin questioned whether the increased tax revenue would outweigh a rise in gambling addiction.
“Do we want to be remembered as the legislature that opened the door to this, that traded away caution and care for quick cash?” he asked. “Senators, this isn't a bill about freedom. It is a bill about temptation and about putting that temptation in every living room, every dorm, every cafe with WiFi.”
After more than three hours of discussion, the resolution’s sponsor, Sen. Eliot Bostar, made a motion to pass over the legislation without taking a vote. He said it would have been one vote short of overcoming the filibuster. The resolution is unlikely to come up later this session, but it remains on select file and can still be scheduled for debate, either this year or – more likely – 2026.
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