Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently vetoed a bill that would have required all Florida Lottery tickets to display on the front: “Warning: Lottery Games May Be Addictive” or “Play Responsibly.” If the bill had passed, Florida would have become the first state to include warning labels similar to those on cigarette packs.
In his veto message, DeSantis explained the warnings could lead to a decline in lottery funds, which go to public education. “As governor, one of my key priorities is making higher education affordable for Florida families. This bill reduces the Lottery’s ability to continue to maximize revenues for education and negatively impacts Florida students,” he wrote.
A legislative staff analysis indicating that annual Florida Lottery sales exceed $6 billion also showed the measure could result in a reduction to $233 million in education funding. The analysis also showed adding the warning could require printing larger tickets, which would increase costs and potentially affect contracts with lottery ticket vending machine retailers. Further, analysts said the warnings could affect Florida’s participation in multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions and also end scratch-off games featuring “The Price is Right,” “Wheel of Fortune,” Monopoly and Scrabble.
“The regulations imposed by the bill would impact the Lottery’s ability to continue to take advantage of all these avenues and have the potential to impact the revenues available for educational enhancement,” DeSantis wrote.
He also noted the Florida Lottery already encourages customers to play responsibly and advertises a toll-free help line for people with gambling problems.
Sponsored by state Rep. Will Robinson, the lottery warning bill had been a priority of House leaders. Former governor and current U.S. Senator Rick Scott vetoed a similar measure in 2017, stating it would impose “burdensome regulations” on the games and retailers.
