INITIATIVE 419
(STATUTE)

OBJECT STATEMENT: TO PROVIDE FOR LICENSE FEES AND A TAX ON GAMING.

FOR AN ACT relating to gaming; to provide a state license fee and tax on gaming as prescribed; and to define terms.

Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska

Section 1. For the purposes of this act: 
   (1) Authorized operator means a person or entity authorized to operate games of chance;
   (2) Casino means a hotel in this state which has no less than five hundred hotel rooms and which has at the same location a gaming area of at least fifty thousand square feet where any games of chance may be operated;
   (3) Community means a county, city, or village in this state; 
   (4) Dollar amount won means the amount which is equal to the total dollar amount wagered by players of such games of chance less the total dollar amount returned to such players;
   (5) Games of chance means any games which have the elements of chance, prize, and wager, including any wager to a slot machine, table game, counter game, or card game. Games of chance shall not include any game the operation of which at a casino is prohibited by the laws of the United States;
   (6) Gross gaming revenue means the dollar amount won by an authorized operator from operation of all games of chance as computed pursuant to applicable rules and regulations less the amount of all federal taxes, other than income taxes, imposed upon the operation of such game of chance; and
   (7) Permitted location means a location in this state where an authorized operator operates games of chance.

Section 2. There shall be an annual gaming tax imposed by the State of Nebraska on gross gaming revenue generated at permitted locations by authorized operators from the operation of all games of chance, except for games of chance authorized under Chapter 2 or Chapter 9, as follows:
   (1) With respect to the operation of all games of chance operated by an authorized operator at a permitted location, a gaming tax equal to thirty-six percent of the first fifteen million dollars of the gross gaming revenue thereof and twenty percent of the gross gaming revenue thereof in excess of fifteen million dollars; 
   (2) Of the gaming tax so imposed on gaming revenue at a casino, seventy-five percent thereof shall be payable to the General Fund and twenty-five percent thereof shall be payable to the community which authorized such games of chance at such casino; and
   (3) Of the gaming tax so imposed on gaming revenue at any other permitted location, twenty-five percent thereof shall be payable to the General Fund and seventy-five percent thereof shall be payable to the community, or the communities, pro rata, which authorized such games of chance at such permitted location. 

Section 3. There shall be an annual gaming license fee imposed by the State of Nebraska of one hundred dollars imposed on each authorized operator per permitted location. All of such gaming license fees so imposed shall be payable to the General Fund.

Section 4. The gaming taxes and the gaming license fees authorized in sections 2 and 3 of this act shall be in lieu of all other taxes, fees, franchise payments, occupation taxes or excise taxes levied or imposed by the State of Nebraska, but shall not be in lieu of such other fees, income taxes, sales taxes, or property taxes levied or imposed against the public generally.

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