Minnesota Legislature Attempting to Stop Online Lottery Ticket Sales

Wednesday December 3^rd 2014

After vetoing an attempt to ban online lottery ticket sales this past spring, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton and the Missouri Lottery are preparing themselves for another fight with the state legislature. In the spring, Dayton stopped the approval of a bill that would put a stop to online sales of instant win games as well as sales of lottery tickets from ATMs and gas pumps throughout the state.

The previous bill would also have prevented the Minnesota Lottery from offering electronic casino games such as blackjack, poker, keno or roulette. A subscription service for major draw games would have remained in place. While the bill was passed by a large majority in both the state House and Senate, Governor Dayton chose to veto the proposed legislation at a time when the session had been adjourned, giving lawmakers no opportunity to cancel out his decision.

Dayton has recently suggested that if lawmakers decide to introduce similar legislation again, he will veto it, but there is a strong chance that the legislature will override him and pass the bill, which means that lottery officials will need to make a strong case to members of both the House and Senate before another bill is introduced. He further insisted that the Minnesota Lottery has the authority to introduce online scratch-off games without seeking approval from the state government.

The Governor’s opponents maintain that the issue is a bipartisan one, and that many of the lawmakers and members of the public who objected to the start of online ticket sales were upset that it was done without consulting the public or members of the Minnesota Legislature.

 

Written by Chris Brown

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