Lawmakers seek to stop Hoosier Lottery from moving online without legislative OK

A Senate committee added language to a tax bill Tuesday that would stop the Hoosier Lottery from adding online gaming without lawmakers’ approval.

That comes after a report by the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette that the lottery planned to forge ahead on “iGaming” without legislative action.

The 1989 law that authorized the state lottery is pretty broad, giving the Lottery Commission a lot of room to add new games without legislative approval. That apparently includes moving into online gambling.

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The Journal Gazette reported that the Hoosier Lottery is already working with its private vendor to do so.

Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle) isn’t comfortable with that.

“We’ve sent [messages] to the commission and asked for information on iLottery – what their plans are and where they are in that process," Holdman said. "But up to this point we’ve somewhat been in the dark about what’s going on over there, so we just want to get a handle on it.”

Holdman’s amendment to a tax bill, HB 1002, would require legislative authorization for the lottery to add online games. And he said any discussion of whether to give that approval should take place next year.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.