A legislative proposal to allow sales of state lottery tickets in Nebraska through vending machines attracted support Monday from retailers while sparking opposition from expanded gambling opponents.
Retailers would like to “free up labor” at their stores from dealing with lottery ticket sales when they could be busy processing their own retail sales, members of the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee were told, as reported by Lincoln Journal-Star. Nebraska and South Carolina are the only states that do not use vending machines to process lottery ticket sales.
The use of bar codes on driver’s licenses can verify age eligibility, according to Rich Otto of Lincoln, speaking for the Nebraska Retail Federation and the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association, in terms of the age issue. Meanwhile, anti-gambling groups oppose the effort as they consider it an expansion of gaming in Nebraska.
Bill sponsor Senator George Dungan of Lincoln said $908 million has been distributed from state lottery sales to help fund education, the Environmental Trust and the Nebraska State Fair since 1993, along with funding a program to combat harmful gambling.
Warhorse Casino in Lincoln groundbreaking.
Earlier this month, gambling expansion advocates – who proposed the growth of the casino landscape in the jurisdiction beyond the existing six racetracks – helped block the advancement of a bill that seeks to delay until 2029 a required market study on the impact of such additional properties.
Under current Nebraska law, the state Racing and Gaming Commission is required to conduct a market and socioeconomic impact study on statewide horse racing and casino gaming, in addition to studies for each county that already has a licensed racetrack, before any new casino licenses can be issued.
Bill LB311 had been introduced by Kearney Sen. John Lowe in an effort to change the deadline to complete the studies, pushing it back from Jan. 1, 2025 to Jan. 1, 2029. However, pproponents of expanded gambling won a round after the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee voted to not advance the proposal.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2023/03/16/66473-nebraska-bill-to-allow-sale-of-lottery-tickets-through-vending-machines-finds-retailers-39-support
