Bill hopes to expand gambling in the State of Nebraska
A bill has been recently advanced in the state of Nebraska that deals with expanded gambling operations. According to the bill, some specific gambling operations would be made legal in the state in the event that it is given approval.
However, the bill does not have any provision that deals with horseracing. Previously, the bill had a provision that dealt with allocating a fund for the horse racing industry of the state. The provision was instituted in order to facilitate the horse racing
industry by providing it some financial stability. However, the provision had been eliminated from the bill before it was recently advanced.
The reason for the elimination of the horse racing provision is the vigorous opposition caused by the activists that speak against gambling. These anti-gambling groups do not want to see expansion of gambling take place in the state of Nebraska and see the
horse racing provision as a means to expand gambling operations.
The horse racing industry has been suffering severe consequences since the time the recession hit the nation. Various racetracks have been forced to shut down and the ones that are still running are finding it hard to make ends meet. The situation was hard
enough before as the sport of horseracing has been decreasing in popularity. This is taking place because the younger generation does not find the attractions that the older generation did on the game. Therefore, the racetracks have not been attracting a sizable
amount of crowds.
In order to generate revenue and attract spectators to the live horse racing events, many have tried to start gambling operations with the racetracks in the form of racinos, off track betting and internet poker etcetera.
However, the horse racing industry first needs to have the approval of the state to legalise such operations. The bill that has cleared the first round of debates in the state of Nebraska is related to the situation just described.
The bill has been under discussion for a long time now. The lawmakers of the state of Nebraska have been debating on the issue since the month of May.
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