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Florida lottery tickets could soon come with warning labelNews Story
Florida lottery tickets could soon carry a big warning label if a Republican legislator gets her way. A House panel on Tuesday voted for a bill that would require all lottery tickets to say Warning: Gambling can be addictive. Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, a Mount Dora Republican who is sponsoring the bill, said lottery tickets are a government-sanctioned activity and should come with the same kind of warnings found on cigarettes. The Florida Lottery sells a wide lineup of tickets ranging in
Mar 29, 2017, 7:42 am - Lottery News

Kansas lawmakers considering lottery vending machinesNews Story
Kansas Lottery players soon might be able to buy tickets from vending machines. The House voted this week in support of the move, which the state lottery has sought for three years. Lottery spokeswoman Sally Lunsford said the measure would increase lottery revenue and cut labor costs for retailers, where ticket buyers could bypass clerks and use the self-service machines. She said 37 other states, including Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma, use the machines. Vending machines have increas
Mar 25, 2017, 3:30 pm - Lottery News

Lottery-winner secrecy bill dies in Idaho SenateNews Story
An Idaho Senate panel has killed legislation that would have allowed lottery winners to hide their identities. The Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday voted 8-1 to halt the measure that would have kept the names of individuals who win $600 or more secret. While the bill would have allowed winners to give written authorization to the lottery to publicize their names, the proposal also prevented those names from being released under public records requests for six months after the pr
Mar 1, 2017, 7:27 pm - Lottery News

Tennessee bill advances to remove lottery winners from government assistanceNews Story
The Tennessee House on Monday passed a bill despite opposition from Democrats that, if it becomes law, would require the names of lottery winners to be cross checked with federal and state government assistance programs. Sponsored by Rep. Dan Howell, R-Georgetown, passed by a 73-21 near party-line vote on Monday night. The bill would make any lottery winner of prizes more than $5,000 ineligible for government assistance. Howell said federal law, which has a lower prize threshold, requires
Feb 28, 2017, 3:52 pm - Lottery News

New Mexico House committee endorses changes in lottery operationsNews Story
Financial bonuses for state lottery officials and contractors would be tied to increases in scholarship money available to New Mexico college students under a bill that got unanimous bipartisan approval from a House committee Monday. House Bill 250, sponsored by Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, also would require the state lottery to transfer money from unclaimed cash prizes usually $2 million to $4 million a year to the lottery scholarships fund. In addition, the bill would halt a pilot p
Feb 28, 2017, 3:40 pm - Lottery News

Idaho Lottery-winner secrecy bill headed to House floorNews Story
A proposal to provide more confidentiality for lottery winners got pushback Wednesday from the Idaho State Lottery Commission, but was ultimately approved by a legislative panel. This idea came to me from one of my constituents: an elderly lady who was a lottery winner but was quickly harassed by phone calls and people showing up at her door, trying to separate her from her winnings, said Rep. Lynn Luker (R-Boise). If we approve this, Idaho would join six other states that offer some form of
Feb 15, 2017, 6:29 pm - Lottery News

Indiana lawmaker wants scratch-off lottery game to help homeless veteransNews Story
An Indiana Senate lawmaker wants the Hoosier Lottery to create a new scratch-off game to benefit homeless veterans. Sen. Ron Alting's (R-Lafayette) bill would allow the Hoosier Lottery to create a new scratch-off game. Money from the game would go into a Veterans Homelessness Assistance Fund, created by the bill. Alting says those dollars would flow, via grants, to organizations that help homeless veterans. It goes for temporary housing and yes it goes for clothing and yes it can go fo
Feb 1, 2017, 6:38 pm - Lottery News

Georgia Gov. to support casino bill if lottery not impactedNews Story
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said Tuesday he won't oppose legislation that would legalize casino gambling as long as it doesn't devastate the state's popular lottery-funded HOPE scholarship program. We need to be absolutely certain that if a casino bill passes, it doesn't adversely impact a lottery program for the state, he said. That is the first big marker to make sure that we don't devastate what is probably perceived as the most successful lottery program in the country. The governor
Jan 24, 2017, 12:59 pm - Lottery News

Massachusetts lawmakers renew push for online lottery salesNews Story
If Massachusetts lawmakers pass a plan backed by State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, the state lottery could be coming to phones and computers across the Commonwealth. After falling short in the last legislative session, proponents of expanding the state lottery into the digital world are renewing their push. I had to come around to this thinking because I myself hadn't thought about online lottery games, but I saw the way millennials are operating is really online, Goldberg said. This past
Jan 24, 2017, 9:39 am - Lottery News

Virginia nixes online lottery ticket salesNews Story
A Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee jettisoned legislation that would have allowed the Virginia Lottery to sell tickets on the Internet. Convenience store owners were among those opposed to the bill that would have opened the door to online gambling. This is the first time a Virginia Assembly Committee has voted on the issue. Del. Roxann Robinson introduced the bill, which was defeated 6-1 in a House General Laws subcommittee. The commonwealth is always looking for additional fundin
Jan 19, 2017, 7:41 pm - Lottery News