Effort to ban online lottery sales moves forward in Minnesota House

Electronic lottery
A gas pump equipped with an option to play the Minnesota Lottery is available at Leroys Auto Center pumps Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013 in Bloomington, Minn. The lottery is gradually expanding its offerings to allow purchases of tickets online or at gas pumps and ATMs. At a hearing Wednesday, some lawmakers expressed nervousness about the push.
Jim Mone/AP

A Minnesota House committee on Thursday approved a ban on online lottery sales, the latest step in the effort to roll back the lottery's Internet initiatives.

Lawmakers have been dubious about the legality and availability of state-sponsored Internet gambling.

"We have had a lot of legislative discussion in the time I've been here about the lottery, e-pulltabs. Should we have a casino at the Mall of America? Should we have gambling at the airport? Should we have racino? Should we have all kinds of things?" said Rep. Ann Lenczewksi, DFL-Bloomington, who sponsored the bill. "And they generally take years of legislative debate. We have not really had that debate. This was thrust upon us, and I think members, we need to step up now."

But lottery officials say the state has little choice, as commerce moves online. The lottery started selling PowerBall tickets online in 2010 and instant scratch-off games in February.

"The objective here is to assist in the growth of sales of the lottery in Minnesota, not only for the lottery itself, but also for its retailers," said David Gale, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, before the House Commerce Committee. "And if you expect to be relevant, if you expect to have a player base 10 years from now, then this is an option that you must be looking at."

The Senate is poised to vote on a similar ban. Gov. Mark Dayton has cautioned lawmakers not to respond too hastily to the lottery's web presence.

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