Nevada
OPINION: Block of FAIR BET Act brings jeers from fans of gambling tax fairness – The Nevada Independent
The annual Super Bowl bacchanalia approaches, but American gamblers and casinos operators have already witnessed the misplay of the season with the congressional fumble of the commonsense FAIR BET Act.
Officially known as the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation, the bill was introduced in July by Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) in an attempt to reverse a recent federal gambling tax policy change that reduced the amount of losses bettors could deduct from their taxes from 100 percent to 90 percent. Titus has rightly called the policy change a “tax increase on Americans who gamble.”
Titus’ bill amounted to a swift fix of a damaging mistake contained in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that threatens to hobble gamblers across the country with an unfair tax on winnings.
FAIR BET quickly picked up 23 co-sponsors and bipartisan support that included Nevada House members Reps. Steven Horsford (D), Susie Lee (D) and Mark Amodei (R). Clearly weighing the politics of the Trump era, the American Gaming Association (AGA) and many influential members of the industry were initially much slower to express strong opinions about the damaging impact the change would have on casino customers.
The vast American gambling community, however, has been lighting up social media for months expressing outrage over the approach of the unfair tax. Under the current provision, gamblers could break even for the year and still owe taxes on their winnings.
Titus pushed through the fall and the AGA and casino CEOs found their voices, but she was surprised as anyone that a bill that impacts so many states was snubbed by Republican-chaired committees. FAIR BET failed to be inserted as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
In the new year, just about everyone is trying to recover this bouncing political football.
A House version of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-NV) FULL HOUSE Act was introduced this week by Horsford and Ohio Rep. Max Miller (R). Officially the Facilitating Useful Loss Limitations to Help Our Unique Service Economy Act, it’s a mouthful that attempts to correct a law that Horsford says is “fundamentally unfair.” He adds in a statement, “This policy would drive tourism across our state elsewhere.” This bill also enjoys bipartisan support in both houses.
After Cortez Masto’s attempt to reverse the gambling provision failed, she told The Associated Press, “My understanding is many Republicans, many Democrats did not even know it was part of that process.”
With so much support, you’d think it would be game over. But not so fast.
By my count, there are three bills in the House and one in the Senate. All have bipartisan support. Titus’ bill is the simplest and contains just a few words, a veritable fortune cookie by congressional standards, but whatever bill gains steam, it will have to do so under Trump’s cloud of chaos in 2026.
“Everybody wants a piece of it now that it’s very popular, and gaming is on board and wants to fix it,” Titus says. “There are show horses and there are work horses. There are those who do the heavy lifting and those who come for the photo op. And you can figure out who’s who.
“I’ve said all along, I don’t care what vehicle we use, we just need to get it fixed.”
The gambling world is watching. Sports betting and casino industry websites continue to follow developments closely. They recognized the obvious hustle unfolding in Washington is more chaos, and chaos is bad for business. An NBC News story echoed the sentiment under a headline, “Bettors are worried Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ could cause professional gambling in the U.S. to fold.”
Overstated? Perhaps. But what amounts to a 10 percent tax on a break-even bankroll would bury plenty of gamblers — and not just the minnows or the poker players, as some gaming industry numbskull first suggested. It’s bad for them and worse for the state’s largest and most politically influential industry.
There’s still time left on the 2026 congressional clock, but the delay makes the Democrats look like they have a communications problem and the lone Republican like he needs to learn to raise his voice on behalf of his constituents. Say it ain’t so.
Now, about Amodei. He was chided for admitting he didn’t know of the existence of the change in the gambling tax code, but in fairness the amendment wasn’t in the House bill. It came from the Senate side. It was introduced by Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo and was, at best, an ill-conceived attempt to raise revenue tucked inside a behemoth piece of legislation that is projected to cost the country more than $3.4 trillion.
At this point, maybe it’s time to set politics aside and remember the words popularly attributed to Vince Lombardi. When it comes to defeating this stinker of a tax, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”
John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in New Lines, Time, Reader’s Digest, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Desert Companion, among others.
Nevada
Nevada workers fear homelessness as housing, jobs vanish before July deadline | Fox News Video
The final casino resort in Primm, Nevada, will close this summer after years of declining tourism, ending gaming operations in the once-busy border town and putting hundreds of employees out of work.
Primm Valley Casino Resorts is shutting down its remaining hotel and casino operations in July as experts point to increased competition, changing travel habits and post-pandemic losses behind the decline.
RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R) is in a strong position heading into the thick of his 2026 reelection bid — a huge war chest, almost universal name recognition and strong favorability numbers among the electorate.
Though Lombardo is likely focusing on the general election already, he faces 6 longshot candidates in the GOP primary seeking to upset him in June.
Nevada Governor GOP primary: 6 longshot candidates taking on incumbent Joe Lombardo
The challengers face a ‘Herculean’ task, said Mike Noble, CEO and founder of Noble Predictive Insights, an Arizona-based nonpartisan pollster focusing on the Southwest region.
“I see it as a Herculean task for anyone. If someone was coming in with like, I don’t know $10 million or something to spend, sure I can see that might be competitive, but I don’t see any of them coming anywhere near close to that. And so again, I just think I think it’s a non-factor at this point,” Noble said.
RELATED | Ballot Battleground: Nevada podcast: Early Noble poll shows dead heat in governor’s race
Despite the long odds, News 4-Fox 11 reached out to all candidates requesting an interview as part of our commitment to 2026 election coverage and our Know Your Candidates series. Three of the 7 running interviewed with us — Irina Hansen, Kameron Hawkins, Lombardo and Jose Zelaya did not respond to multiple emails requesting an interview.
We asked them similar questions about Gov. Lombardo’s leadership as governor, how they would pass a balanced budget and whether they support taxpayer subsidies for sports teams or major projects.
Click the candidate’s name to watch their full interview. Quotes below have been edited for space and clarity.
Donald J. Beaudry Jr. is an entrepreneur who founded BlkEdgeAi, a financial technology firm specializing in AI-driven trading systems and market strategy, according to his campaign website.
He told News 4-Fox 11 that Nevada has been drifting the last four years with ‘no captain, no vision.’ He believes his Wall Street-like trading market called NGEX (Nevada Global Exchange) would generate enough revenue to eliminate sales taxes, property taxes, business taxes and vehicle registration fees.
“I completely blueprinted it out and calculated that this model could generate enough revenue in this state that we could eliminate all the state taxes and fees that are currently in place and use that as the revenue source for the state and make everybody, every man, woman and child throughout Nevada, a shareholder in the dividends of that exchange … it would be a kind of Wall Street type of stock market, but far broader, more advanced, and exponentially more profitable.”
Matthew Rian Winterhawk is the founder of SmartSlaps foundation, a nonprofit that works to help schools and students with civic engagement and community responsibility.
If elected, he described going through a DOGE-like review of the state budget to determine which areas can be cut or kept depending on their ‘dollar to impact’ ratio.
“What I would like to do is go through every department, I’m talking top to bottom, from here from the primary to the beginning. We will cut every piece of administrative bloat across the system … I need more money for my teachers. Teachers never see it, students never see it, the impact never reaches the classroom. It’s 100% administrative bloat.”
The son of immigrants, Barak Zilberberg is now an entrepreneur and real estate investor based in Las Vegas. He ran for governor in 2022, earning 0.2% of the vote in the GOP primary. He told News 4-Fox 11 he’s also running for President in 2028.
He said he’s running for governor to improve the educational system, bring jobs to Nevada and open up federal land to build more affordable housing.
“We’ve got get high-speed railing systems in here where we can transit very easily, efficiently, and basically moving around between economies of both cities. Not only that, I’d like to bring Disneyland here and the Olympics, sponsor the Olympics here. I just want to make this a well-known place of entertainment, a hub.”
To help voters make informed decisions this election year, News 4-Fox 11 is publishing and broadcasting dozens of interviews with candidates who will appear on the June primary ballot.
In fairness to all candidates, they were asked a series of similar questions. We are posting the full interviews online so voters can watch their responses in their entirety.
Visit our Know Your Candidates 2026 page to view other race previews and meet other candidates.
Email reporter Ben Margiott at bjmargiott@sbgtv.com. Follow @BenMargiott on X and Ben Margiott KRNV on Facebook.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — One woman is dead following a head-on collision on US-95 Sunday afternoon.
Nevada Highway Patrol responded to a report of a crash at 4:41 p.m. at mile marker 105, approximately 45 miles north of Beatty. The crash involved two sport utility vehicles.
One adult female driver was confirmed dead at the scene. The other driver was transported to a local area hospital with injuries.
MORE ON FOX5: Report: Nevada traffic deaths down 33% for April
No road closures are in effect. Investigations are being conducted on the southbound shoulder area.
Nevada Highway Patrol, a division of the Nevada State Police, is asking motorists to slow down and use caution in the area as troopers and investigators work at the scene.
Further information will be provided following the preliminary investigation.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
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