As lawmakers in North Dakota continue to debate measures to expand gaming in the state, a bill to expand pull-tab machine gaming has failed, while lawmakers who remain divided on sports betting may put that issue before voters next year.
A state Senate bill to expand placement of pull-tab machines failed in a March 31 vote. Opponents call the pull-tab machines, approved in 2017 for bars and taverns, essentially illegal slot machines. A recent loose interpretation of the term “alcoholic beverage establishment” in the 2017 law led to the machine appearing in gas stations and convenience stores that sell alcoholic beverages. State regulators have yet to clarify the definition.
The state Senate killed the pull-tab expansion bill in a 38-6 vote with no debate. The state House of Representatives last month had passed the bill, 66-27.
The bill sought to require locations with the machines to have an on-sale liquor license approved by the local government. “This could include coffee shops, hair salons, gas stations, grocery stores or a site the local governing body allows,” state Senator Judy Estenson told the Senate, according to the Bismarck Tribune.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have failed to pass bills to legalize sports betting in the state. Lawmakers have introduced House Concurrent Resolution 3002, which would put the issue before voters in the November 2024 general election ballot.
“It is important to note, passage of this resolution does not legalize sports betting,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Stemen, told the House Judiciary Committee on January 9, according to the Williston Herald. “A constitutional change is required in order to legalize sports betting, thus the rationale for a concurrent resolution to allow the people to have their say.”
HCR 3002 passed the House with a vote of 49-44, but the Senate Judiciary Committee has recommended that it not pass. A final vote by the full Senate awaits.
