Get ready to vote on casino idea

So what do you think about casino gambling? Are you for it? Or, are you against it? Why? Why not? We're asking these questions because in the near future -- perhaps as soon as November -- the voters of Nebraska will be asked to decide whether to allow up to eight casinos in the state.

That report came to us Thursday morning from Tom Baker, the state senator from Trenton who represents the 44th District of Southwest Nebraska. In Baker's opinion, the Nebraska Legislature will garner the 30 votes needed to place the casino amendment on the ballot in November.

Why now? How come, after several years of debate, is the Legislature poised to reach agreement on a gambling plan?

According to Baker, it's because the state senators are concerned that two initiative petitions, now being circulated, will find their way on to the ballot. The majority of senators don't want that to happen, Baker said, because they believe the petitions are self-serving attempts to help vested interest groups, including slot machine companies and casino investors. Also, the senators are concerned because the petition proposals do not provide for legislative oversight of gambling.

To give the people of Nebraska an option, the state senate plan would allow up to eight casinos in the state, with no restriction placed on where the casinos could be located. That change -- allowing the casinos to be located any place -- is what swayed Baker to support the plan. Without geographic restrictions, casinos could be located in western Nebraska -- in McCook, Kimball or Scottsbluff, for example -- as well as in Lincoln, Omaha and other other larger cities in the eastern part of the state.

Now that it appears very likely that the casino question will be on the ballot -- by either a constitutional amendment, initiative petition or both -- it is time for voters to start taking seriously the question of whether Nebraska should allow widespread gambling.

We already have lotteries. Do we also want casinos, and, if the initiative petition succeeds, video slots at bars, horse tracks and keno parlors as well?

There is a distinct difference of opinion on the gambling question. On one side are those adamantly opposed to gambling, saying that gambling in any form contributes to moral decline and creates social problems which far outreach the income derived by the state in taxes and fees.

On the other side are those who favor freedom of choice. In their view, almost all of Nebraska's neighboring states already have casino gambling, so why shouldn't the same privilege be extended to Nebraska citizens as well? Why, they ask, should Nebraskans have to drive to enjoy a game of chance readily available in neighboring states?

These are tough questions, forcing all Nebraskans to examine their conscience before casting a ballot on the issue. Citziens need to be ready because, at this writing, it appears the vote on gambling is going to happen, most likely in the November general election.