William Zielke, Commission Chair of the Hoosier Lottery, has confirmed his intention to pursue plans for an ilottery, despite recent pushback from Indiana lawmakers.
As reported by Wyfi, Zielke spoke at a commission meeting on Wednesday and made his first public comments on the law amendments set out earlier this year.
Following reports of plans to introduce an ilottery for the first time in the state, the General Assembly passed a bill in March – HEA 1260 – to require legislative approval before any online lottery expansion.
One of the significant concerns surrounding the proposal of an ilottery has been the damaging impact online games could have on convenience stores and other retailers.
According to Scot Imus, Executive Director of the Indiana Food and Fuel Association, convenience stores and other retailers represented by his group sell about 90% of all lottery tickets.
However, the door was left ajar for another discussion to take place on this subject in the next legislative session.
Meanwhile, over two months later, Zielke has expressed his disappointment at the action taken while announcing his intention to follow through with his original proposal.
“I don’t think we want to maintain the status quo here at the lottery,” Zielke said.
Zielke also noted that several other states have some form of ilottery, including all of Indiana’s surrounding states.