There is nothing promoters of legal video lottery games can say that will convince Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin that promised new revenue offsets the social damage of expanded gambling, she told The Independent last week.
That opposition, she said, doesn’t mean Capitol hallway rumors that the Senate Select Committee on Gaming — the committee she put herself in charge of — will be the graveyard for a bill legalizing the gambling devices that narrowly passed the Missouri House last month.
The bill would give the Missouri Lottery authority to license video games for installation in retail locations across the state. The licensed machines would have to pay out at least 80% of the money wagered as prizes and about one-third of the profits would be dedicated to state education programs.
