Gambling foes: Nebraska’s strong economy holding off casinos

Margery Beck

Monday, July 10, 2000 | 10 a.m.

OMAHA, Neb. - With states for years allowing casino-style gambling not far from Nebraska's borders, some wonder how that form of gambling has not expanded into the state.

The Rev. Tom Grey, a Methodist minister turned anti-gambling activist, thinks he knows the answer.

Since Nebraska has enjoyed a strong economy with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, there has not been overwhelming demand for the state to legalize casino-style gambling, which often promises increased state revenue and charitable aid, Grey said.

"Some of the arguments casinos were making a few years ago don't hold up now," said Grey, director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.

In addition, Nebraska has the support of a state anti-gambling coalition, Gambling With the Good Life - a must, the Illinois minister said, to stemming the tide gambling interests can create in less prosperous states.

Grey was one of several national gambling opponents who met this weekend in Omaha to plot ways to curb the spread of gambling in the United States.

The anti-gambling conference was held at Creighton University, about two miles from several popular riverboat casinos along Iowa's banks of the Missouri River.

In Nebraska, some forms of gambling are legal. The state operates its own lottery and scratch games, while local keno lotteries and pickle cards are allowed. However, casino-style games such as video poker and slot machines are banned. The Santee Sioux Tribe has operated a small casino on its reservation in northeast Nebraska for the past four years in defiance of the state's laws against that form of gambling.

The anti-gambling movement can claim victories in several states, most recently in South Carolina where the state's Supreme Court ordered the removal of 34,000 video poker machines because that form of gambling was not approved by voters.

Several other states, including Louisiana and South Dakota, also are considering legislation to withdraw or curb support of video poker games.

Nebraska's gambling opponents have had their share of successes, too - one of the reasons the national conference is being held in the state.

In 1996, those who wanted to expand gambling lost on a number of fronts when the issue was defeated on the Legislative floor and in an effort to take the initiative to the ballot on a petition drive. That drive failed to garner enough v