Nebraska lawmakers shut down plan on horse racing betting expansion

The horse racing industry in many states has been suffering a lot lately. The latest blow was when a proposal of getting horse races in Nebraska to be simulcast was rejected Thursday.

The amendment proposal aimed to get betting to approved locations in cities or counties. However, all hopes were shattered when lawmakers broke off the plan leaving the industry scrambling to find more options for them to just in this current economic turmoil.

Critics of the proposal say that the idea of widening the betting options would not help the horse racing industry at all. They even say that horse racing would just deepen the society’s problem in gambling addiction.

Supporters of the proposed additional betting options, on the other hand, say that races would not be able to survive if the industry owners would only depend on track bets. Attendance on race tracks all across the country has fallen continuously recently.

Kentucky is already in the move to submit a bill that would add slot machines on the horse race tracks. It is still tough road, however, since most lawmakers are not in favor of the bill although Governor Steve Beshear has been pushing for the bill to push through.

States affected by the recession have been looking at other options to boost their revenue. Casinos are now being built everywhere in even those states that already had casinos to expand income generation.