Legislators in Nevada appeared to have shot down a landmark bill that would’ve brought the total number of US state lotteries to 46.
On hold for more than two years, Bill AJR5 was recently pushed back into the spotlight after its main proponent, Culinary Union Local 226, published the results of its own survey where it revealed that 84% of state residents are in favor of a state lottery.
The survey’s findings then prompted the Union to request for the draft legislation to be voted on by the public.
Alongside the survey, Ted Pappageorge, Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer, said: “Enacting a state lottery is a common-sense solution to help fund youth mental health and public education in our state. Nevadans deserve a chance to vote on this issue – it’s time to let the people decide.”
Having passed the two legislative chambers in 2023, the bill was very close to making it over the finish line, needing just one final approval before finding its way to Nevadans.
Regardless, no mention of it was made during last Friday’s meeting of Nevada’s Legislative Operations and Electronics Committee Assembly, essentially shutting it down until the end of the 83rd Legislative Session, which concludes on 2 June.
Sector sees no value in a state lottery
There are bound to be more developments in the meantime before the next session starts in 2027, as the Union is expected to keep pushing for the bill in the search for additional state funding towards local mental health and youth support services.
However, there will also be guaranteed pushback from gambling stakeholders given that we’re talking about Nevada here – the home of Las Vegas. One of the biggest groups in the state that opposes the creation of a state-owned lottery is the Nevada Resort Association.
One of the main arguments against such a lottery is that the use of convenience stores and gas station kiosks offer little benefits to the economy in comparison to the casino resort empire on the Vegas strip.
In 2023, Nick Vassiliadis, a representative of the Nevada Resorts Association, commented: “To say that a statewide lottery is going to net a couple of $100m a year in revenue is somewhat unfounded.
“You need to get down into the weeds in terms of what type of lottery you plan on running. That discussion never took place.”