Massachusetts budget deal to legalise online lottery

Garance Limouzy July 24, 2024

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Massachusetts budget deal to legalise online lottery

Massachusetts residents could soon be purchasing lottery tickets online, thanks to a legislative compromise that included online lottery in the state’s $58 billion budget plan. If the Democratic Governor Maura Healey signs the bill, Massachusetts will become the 11th state to offer online lottery.

Budget plan

Approved on July 19, the budget plan not only addresses the legalisation of online lottery sales but also includes funding for free community college for all state residents and allocations for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The plan is expected to generate an additional $100 million in revenue for the state through online lottery sales.

“Great news”

“Our team is excited to implement an online Lottery,” Massachusetts Lottery Executive Director Mark William Bracken, adding “we are ready”.

This sentiment was echoed by State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who described the inclusion of online lottery sales in the budget as “great news” for keeping the Lottery competitive and reaching new audiences. She added: “We are prepared to implement a safe and reliable online lottery that will produce significant resources for critical childcare services, which are so desperately needed across the state”.

Compromise

Initially, online lottery was excluded from the Senate’s budget proposal in May due to concerns about the time required to generate revenue and the potential impact on brick-and-mortar stores. However, the budget compromise addressed these issues, introducing stricter regulations to earn the Senate’s approval. Key changes include raising the minimum age for online lottery participation from 18 to 21 and measures to prevent predatory advertising targeting minors. The online lottery will be banned from accepting credit-card payments and will promote traditional lottery retailers.

Senate President Karen Spilka explained, “This is part of the reason why we negotiate a budget; we sit with the House and we work through their provisions. They work through ours.” The age restriction for online lottery will not affect sales in physical retail stores, where the minimum age remains 18.

Next steps

With the budget deal nearing completion, the next step is for Governor Healey to sign the bill. The inclusion of online lottery in the fiscal year 2025 budget represents a long-awaited digitalisation of the Massachusetts State Lottery.