A vote o 63% by Nebraska residents passed that approved a constitutional amendment in November of 1992 to authorize the creation of a state lottery. The Nebraska Lottery was created by Legislative bill 138 and was passed by the Nebraska Legislature on February 24, 1993 and was the 37th state lottery in the United States.

Nebraska residents voted in November of 2004 and passed Amendment 4 which established a distribution formula for funds generated by the Nebraska Lottery. The distribution formula created by Amendment 4 is as follows: 44.5% goes to Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund these funds are split equally between the Education Innovation Fund and the Nebraska Scholarship Fund, 10% goes toward the Nebraska State Fair, and 1% plus the first $500,00 in fund proceeds each fiscal year goes toward the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund.