Bid for Indian casinos in Nebraska faces opposition

Monday, Jan. 8, 2001 | 1:02 a.m.

A year after the idea of allowing Indian casinos in Nebraska failed to be debated in the Legislature, Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek is again trying to convince her colleagues that expanded gambling would be good for the state and its tribes.

Opposition remains strong to a proposal (LR6CA) that Schimek introduced Monday.

An Associated Press survey conducted before last week's start of the session indicated 14 of the 48 senators who responded were in favor of allowing casino-style gambling on Indian lands.

Twenty-five lawmakers - a majority of the Legislature's 49 members - were opposed.

Schimek said casinos would help spur economic development on the reservations.

"It allows them the resources with which they can build infrastructure, provide services and invest in the tribe," Schimek said.

The state's four tribes support the measure and say it is their sovereign right to decide for themselves whether to allow casino gambling on their land.

"They would like to be able to take control of their own lives," Schimek said.

Opponents argue the amendment would eventually lead to casino-style gambling across Nebraska controlled by interests from Las Vegas and others outside the state.

"Why do we need another vice in our state?" said Pat Loontjer, director of Gambling with the Good Life, an anti-gambling group.

Nebraska's Omaha and Winnebago tribes run casinos, but they are located in Iowa where casinos are permitted. The Santee Sioux Tribe has operated a casino in Santee on its northeast Nebraska reservation since 1996, but it is considered an illegal venture because of Nebraska's ban on casino-style gambling. Attempts by state and federal officials to close down the casino have failed.

The Legislature's General Affairs Committee last year was deadlocked 4-4 on whether to advance the casino measure for debate by the full Legislature.

Schimek said she has not talked to all of the committee's eight members about her proposal, but she will soon and the tribes are hiring a lobbyist to help them make their case.

With the proposal deadlocked last year, Schimek sought a vote of the entire Legislature to pull it out of committee for consideration but her attempt fell two votes shy of the 25 needed.

At the time, Schimek called the lost vote "the biggest disappointment of my legislative life."

Based on the results of the AP survey, Schimek may be in for more disappointment.

Of the committee's eight members, three are against casinos on reservations and four support it - or at least want to allow the state's voters to decide.

Sen. Carroll Burling of Kenesaw, who is beginning his first term in the Legislature, is undecided.

He said Monday that he wants to hear both sides of the issue and get more information before he makes up his mind.

Schimek's bill was signed by 10 other senators who support the idea.

If Schimek's amendment gets out of committee and passes the Legislature with the 30 votes needed, it would be placed on the 2002 election ballot for voters to decide.

If voters approved, then the tribes and the state would have to enter into a compact detailing the parameters of the gambling to take place.

That would then have to be approved by the Legislature.