In Missouri, House Bill 423, sponsored by state Rep. Dan Shaul, would allow any authorized Missouri Lottery retailer with a liquor license to install up to five video slot machines, and fraternal and veterans organizations could install up to 10 machines. Supporters said the machines could generate a minimum of $100 million in the first year. Revenue from the machines would be shared among the establishment, the local municipality or county and public education.
However, in a statement, Missouri Gaming Association Executive Director Mike Winter said, “Missouri legislators may soon consider the largest expansion of gambling since the Missouri casino industry was established. HB 423 would allow thousands of new lottery slot machines to be installed at retail establishments throughout the state. This irresponsible bill would permit slot machines on every street corner where a restaurant, bar, convenience store or truck stop is located. The proposed gambling expansion would heavily affect those areas which do not have a casino in their community. The same towns and cities that may have opposed casinos could suddenly see hundreds of slot machines in their communities.”
The group also said the plan bypassed legislation passed by voters restricting casinos to certain locations and called the oversight and security of the plan “ludicrously inadequate.”
Winter added, “As is already the case in Illinois, Missouri could very quickly have more slot machines outside of casinos than inside them. This is not what Missouri voters envisioned when they voted in 1994 to approve casino wagering in Missouri.” He said the bill would bypass voters as well as “the strict casino gambling regulations established and enforced by our state’s strong gaming commission.”
He wrote, “The proposed oversight, regulations and security for these new slot machines are ludicrously inadequate. Busy retailers would be solely responsible for monitoring the machines and preventing underage youth from gambling. Retailers ALSO would not be required to promote responsible gaming nor have any program in place to restrict play for individuals on the self-exclusion list as casinos do.”
He said it was “preposterous” that the bill’s sponsors “try to characterize it as a compromise or regulatory piece of legislation” and concluded, “We encourage residents concerned about thousands of new lottery slot machines in their communities and on every street corner in Missouri to ask their legislators to vote no on HB 423.”
Veterans groups said membership is dropping at American Legion posts and fraternal organizations in Missouri and nationwide. At American Legion Post 21 in Independence, which offers several casino games, including two video slot machines and Keno, veteran Tom Tanner said the group receives only 1 percent of the games’ returns. He said HB 423 “would help generate a lot more income for the post and help us do the things that we need to do to support veteran activities. I’m hoping it would increase the traffic in here and allow people to come in and play the slot machines.”
