Minnesota Bill Targets Online Lottery

Lawmakers re-introduce legislation vetoed last session, which would halt online lottery and ticket sales at the pump.

February 03, 2015

ST. PAUL — After a controversy-filled year for the Minnesota Lottery in 2014, state lawmakers are once again pushing to stop the games’ expansion into online and other venues. Legislation passed the Minnesota House Commerce and Regulatory Reform committee last week that would require the lottery to end online scratch-off games as well as ticket sales at gas pumps and ATM machines.

A similar bill with those restrictions passed both chambers of the legislature last May, but was vetoed by Governor Mark Dayton. The veto came after the legislature had adjourned, meaning lawmakers didn’t have the chance to override it. Thus, the effort has been one of the first orders of business in the new legislative session.

A stand-alone bill containing the restrictions, and a larger one containing similar provisions, were advanced to the State Government Finance Committee.

Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten told news sources that he opposes the proposed bills, stressing they would jeopardize the money the lottery provides for environmental and other state programs and risk the possibility of litigation should the state break existing contracts. He offered compromise language that would make it clear that the lottery director cannot offer new delivery methods for lottery ticket sales without legislative authorization. That essentially would freeze lottery activity where it is now and require express approval for further steps.

The proposed bills would leave in place the online versions of lotto-style games such as Powerball and MegaMillions that have been available since 2010 and have not been controversial in the state. It was the lottery’s implementation of online scratch-off games a year ago that sparked the backlash.

At the time, opponents said e-scratch-offs would be more addictive than the lotto-style draw games and some lawmakers said the state legislature needed to sign off on any such changes. Convenience-store owners, charitable-gaming representatives, tribal casino interests and others objected as well.

Because of the governor’s veto, the ATM, gas-pump and online scratch-off options have remained in effect. The ATM and play-at-the-pump options launched in late 2012. Currently, the ATM option is available at 135 non-bank locations and the pump option at 58 locations, that together have generated about $50,000 in sales this fiscal year.

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