Mississippi lottery bill signed into law
29 Aug 2018
Mississippi House of Representatives voted 70-43 to pass a state lottery bill that included significant changes to the version the senate passed.
Both versions of the bill create a state lottery program that a private corporation would oversee with a governor-appointed board. The House version makes the corporation and board subject to public oversight; some lawmakers criticized the senate version for shielding them from public-records laws. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, a proponent of the legislation, endorsed the pro-transparency amendment before the House vote.
The House version would ban using video terminals, computers and other mobile devices for the sale of lottery tickets; require that lottery tickets include the toll-free phone number of a state or national organization that provides help to those who struggle with gambling addiction; and ban lottery prizes going to members of the board, employees of the state lottery corporation, or immediate family members who reside in their households.
