PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Lottery’s executive director updated an oversight commission Monday on the defeat of two bills the group championed.
Norman Lingle told the Lottery Commission that although the Legislature did not approve the measures, the commission “did have some success this year” including lawmakers unanimously reappointing three of the group’s members.
One of the defeated bills would have allowed more video lottery terminals in licensed establishments. Another would have increased the bet limit on video lottery games.
During the regular session in which lawmakers wrapped up the bulk of their work earlier this month, State House members resisted amendments to legislation to give more authority to the Lottery Commission. One proposed amendment recommended allowing the commission to set bet limits.
“We quickly realized there were some definite opinions regarding video lottery among the House of Representatives,” Lingle said. “We also realized that there were some folks, some House of Representatives members, who did not like granting authority to the commission. They thought it was perhaps taking away from their ability to legislate and oversee video lottery.”
Lingle said they could use the bills’ defeat as a learning opportunity. He also told commissioners about a failed bill to wean the state off of video lottery revenue.
He said many arguments against pro-gambling bills cited problem gambling statistics.
“We were coming back saying, ’Hey, we do set aside dollars every year to address the problem gambling issue,’” Lingle said. “The last three years all those dollars have not been accessed by the Department of Social Services.”
Many legislators expressed interest in a study on the effects of gambling on the state. Lingle said he would discuss that at the next Lottery Commission meeting on April 10.
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