Bill To Make Video Lottery Terminals Legal In Missouri Gas Stations And Bars Moves To Senate

Gas stations and bars in Missouri are now one step closer to being able to legally house video lottery gaming terminals (VLTs) on their premises.

A bill that would allow for licensure and regulation of the machines got through the Missouri House on Wednesday by a 83-73 vote, which was one over the threshold for the bill to move along to the Senate, according to a report by the St. Louis Dispatch.

Currently, the state is loose with unregulated and untaxed devices that resemble slot machines, according to the article, prompting some legislators to want to get it under control.

“If people are doing it, I would rather have them regulated and taxed and to make sure that kids aren’t doing it. So, I am in favor of the bill itself,” House Speaker Jon Patterson, a Republican, told reporters last week.

Interestingly, Patterson wasn’t able to move the majority of his party to his side, as Republicans split the vote in the House, 54-54, with the 29 Democrats able to push it over the line.

“This is a darn poor way to try to fund the state of Missouri or anything else,” said Rep. Dean Van Schoiack, a fellow Republican.

And not all Democrats stood across the aisle with Patterson. 

“It preys on poor people. I just think it makes our state look bad,” Rep. Michael Burton, a Democrat, told the Dispatch.

Supporters said the tax revenue generated by a legal gambling program could be beneficial.

“Right now, these games are in our communities and across the state. I don’t think it’s an expansion. I think it’s regulation,” Rep. Tara Peters, a Republican, said. “It’s a sad situation. It needs to be regulated.”

The breakdown

The bill itself, sponsored by Rep. Bill Hardwick, a Republican, would allow up to eight machines at any one licensed retail location. They would be located in a space designed to keep underage patrons out.

The bill would also make any unlicensed machine illegal.

“I think this bill will cause them to go away,” Hardwick said.

Additionally, the machines would be mandated to pay out at least 80%, and the tax rate on the machines would be set at 34%.

“It’s not a solution in search of a problem. We have a genuine problem,” Hardwick told the paper.

Some amendments to the bill are complicating things, including one that would give each individual county in Missouri choice of whether they want the machines, and another amendment is seeking to raise the cost of admission to Missouri’s casinos to $4, up from the current $2.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it may very well die, as Senate President Cindy O’Laughlin and Sen. Lincoln Hough, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, have both said the bill is unlikely to be called in the chamber before the lawmakers adjourn in the middle of May.