'Gaming is here': Tribal corporation makes another go at ballot

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Live horse racing took place on September 15, 2018, at Atokad Park, owned and operated by Ho-Chunk Inc. in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Photo © Jerry L Mennenga / Courtesy of Ho-Chunk Inc

A tribal corporation in Nebraska is rolling the dice once again, betting voters will approve expanded gambling.

Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe, plans to launch a petition drive in early May that will seek to put the question of whether to expand gambling in Nebraska on the November 2020 ballot. The company plans to team up with the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association to give voters the chance to decide whether their state should allow casino gambling at the state’s horse racetracks.

If approved, the measure would pave the way for casino gambling at racetracks in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Columbus, South Sioux City, and possibly Hastings.

The two organizations estimate that Nebraska is missing out on about $500 million a year that its residents wager in surrounding states. They predict expanding gambling would generate about $50 million annually in new tax revenue, which could help fund property tax relief, K-12 public education and the Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Fund.

Lance Morgan, a citizen of the Winnebago Tribe, serves as president and chief executive officer of Ho-Chunk Inc., the tribe's economic development corporation. Photo Courtesy of Ho-Chunk Inc.

“Nebraska’s political leadership says they’re not for gaming, but we have a lottery and any Nebraskan who wants can cross the border and gamble,” said Lance Morgan, a Winnebago tribal citizen and CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc. “Gaming is here. It’s just a question of whether of we’re going to benefit from it or other states are going to benefit from it.”

The tribal corporation attempted to gather enough signatures in 2015-16 to expand gambling in Nebraska, but that effort < ahref=https://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2016/08/11/referendum-to-expand-gaming-in.asp>failed after Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale rejected many of the signatures, leaving it 40,000 short.

Morgan said Ho-Chunk Inc. has hired a different company that has a proven track record to gather signatures this time. The company sued the consultant that gathered signatures for the 2015-16 petition effort, Northstar Campaign Systems, alleging Northstar knowingly inflated the number of signatures it had collected. That lawsuit is still being litigated.

He said the latest effort will attempt to get voters to put three questions on the 2020 ballot – a constitutional change that would allow casino gambling at horse racetracks, a statutory change to establish a state gaming commission and a statutory change to decide how gaming revenue would be allocated.

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He said the petition drive likely will cost as much as $6 million.

HCI and the horsemen’s association have until early summer 2020 to submit their petitions to the secretary of state’s office. Morgan said the two organizations have given themselves more time to gather signatures than the previous initiative, and have also clarified the ballot language for the three questions to be put before voters.

“We’ve got a new signature company we feel pretty good about, and we’ve got a lot more time this time,” Morgan said. “I’m a lot more confident that this initiative will be successful.”

In 2016, Ho-Chunk Inc. acquired a former racetrack in South Sioux City and reopened it as Atokad Park. At least one race has been run every year.

Morgan said allowing casino gambling at the state’s licensed horse racetracks also would help revive the struggling horse racing industry in Nebraska.

“I think it’s a double positive for Nebraska,” he said. “We’ll get some gaming revenue going. We’ll also revive an industry that really suffers, and in doing so it will give rural Nebraska a much needed economic boost.”

Ho-Chunk Inc. owns Indianz.Com. The website is not involved in the gaming petition or any of the corporation's other activities.