Indiana House to consider online lottery bill
The House Public Policy Committee has voted 9-3 to advance the proposal.
US.- The Indiana House Public Policy Committee has voted 9-3 to advance House Bill 1078 to the full House for consideration. The proposal would authorise the Hoosier Lottery to sell tickets online and offer digital instant games. Online lottery sales would probably not start until the summer of 2027.
Last year, the committee endorsed a bill for both online lottery and casino games, but it didn’t reach the full House for a vote.
Jared Bond, external affairs director of the lottery, told the committee: “When the Hoosier Lottery was created in 1989 … there was really only one way to buy a lottery ticket. You walked into a retailer with cash, but today Hoosiers utilize their mobile devices for all kinds of different things, like banking and to shop.”
Lisa Hutcheson, vice president for prevention and policy at Mental Health America of Indiana, said online gambling, such as i-lottery, “removes many of the physical safeguards that exist in brick-and-mortar facilities. Online gambling heightens those risks through constant access, targeted advertising, secrecy and the perception of quick financial gain.”
Meanwhile, Indiana lawmakers introduced a bill that would define online sweepstakes casinos as a form of illegal gambling. Co-sponsors Rep. Ethan Manning, Rep. Peggy Mayfield, and Rep. Justin Moed’s House Bill 1052 has been assigned to the House Committee on Public Policy.
The initiative proposes that operators who run these games or involve residents in transactions face civil penalties of up to $100,000.
