Missouri Senate Committee Kills Video Lottery Bill

A Missouri Senate committee on Wednesday unanimously rejected a House-passed bill that would have legalized video lottery terminals at retail locations including gas stations, leaving the issue on hold for at least another year.

The Senate Select Committee on Gaming moved straight to a vote without taking up debate, according to the Missouri Independent. Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin set up the committee specifically to consider the bill and made herself chair. She is among the chamber’s most consistent VLT opponents.

“My problem is it’s horrible for all the communities, and if we want to expand gaming, we can put it on the ballot,” O’Laughlin said.

The bill would have given the Missouri Lottery authority to license video games for retail sites across the state. Licensed machines would have had to pay out at least 80% of money wagered, and about a third of profits would have gone to state education programs.

The legislation also carried a 3% tax on video lottery profits to assist local governments, a $250 annual per-machine fee for disability services, and an increase in the casino admission fee from $2 to $4 per patron.

Backers had pitched the bill as a major new revenue source. Estimates had put it at roughly $300 million for education and $56 million for veterans services.

Sen. Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat, acknowledged the revenue appeal but said that gambling concerns outweighed it, according to the Independent.

“I’m becoming increasingly concerned with gambling,” Webber said. “I think that sports gambling is probably more impactful in a negative way than five or six years ago, I thought it might be. I certainly am sympathetic to the revenue argument, but at some point, like, the state can’t just be built on sin taxes.”

Still illegal

The Missouri Gaming Association, which represents the state’s 13 licensed casinos, opposed the bill. Casino operators have claimed that the spread of unregulated machines since 2019 has siphoned hundreds of millions in tax revenue away from licensed venues.

Casino tax revenue has been growing slowly in the state, and in March, casinos reported an 11% drop in revenue compared to March 2025, a decline tied to the spike in gas prices following the Iran war.

The committee vote happened as Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway continues a crackdown on unregulated machines. The push gained momentum after U.S. District Judge James Ross ruled in February that machines from Torch Electronics, the largest vendor in the state, “meet the statutory definition of ‘gambling device’ and are therefore illegal under Missouri law when played outside a licensed casino,” according to the Independent. The ruling followed an October jury decision against Torch.

In April, Hanaway announced that Torch had agreed to shut off all its Missouri machines while it pursues a settlement to avoid criminal charges. A settlement has not been finalized, and the machines have stayed dark.

Hanaway has not announced action against other vendors offering similar games. Missouri Gaming Association lobbyist Mike Winter said he expects casino tax revenue to climb as enforcement expands.

“It’s going to take time as Attorney General Hanaway goes after more and more of these illegal machine operations,” Winter told the Independent. “I believe you’ll see an uptick in admissions at the casinos as more and more of those machines are pulled out of operation.”