There will be no online Lottery under the state Senate’s fiscal 2024 budget plan, planting the seed for conflict with House lawmakers who have already approved a proposal to make it mobile.
Senators met in formal session on Tuesday to begin dispensing with the over 1,000 amendments lawmakers have filed to change the about $55 billion budget bill offered by their Ways and Means Committee, when a proposal presented by state Sen. Paul Feeney to add the lottery’s programs to the list of games Massachusetts residents can make mobile bets on was defeated without discussion or argument.
Feeney’s amendment, “Modernizing the Lottery” or amendment 108, directed the lottery commission to “establish rules and regulations for lotteries conducted online, over the internet, through the use of a mobile application or through any other means.”
“We’ve seen in other states and other jurisdictions that when they’ve done that, it actually helped boost the amount of revenue that was coming into lottery agents, because you were just bringing on more and more players,” Feeney told the State House News Service ahead of Tuesday’s voting.
The House spending plan approved at the end of April includes a proposal for a so-called iLottery that would bring the state’s gaming network into the 21st century and on par with mobile sports betting which, since its March launch, has brought in millions in state tax revenue.
Under the House plan, the proceeds of online lottery sales would go to provide grants to early education and childcare providers through the Commonwealth Cares for Children program. Both Gov. Maura Healey and Treasurer Deb Goldberg have spoken in favor of moving the lottery online.
Along with the bulk of state senators, who rejected the iLottery amendment when bundled along with dozens of others, the plan to make the lottery mobile is opposed by members of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association, who have said allowing lottery sales outside of physical establishments will hurt their bottom line, which relies on the customer base that the lottery helps to provide.
The group’s executive director, Peter Brennan, told the Herald he appreciates the Senate’s thoughtful approach to an issue that directly affects his organization’s 3,000 members, but he said he’s certain the senate’s rejection of Feeney’s amendment hasn’t made the issue go away.
“I think this topic…this isn’t the end of the discussion. We just want to be a part of the discussion going forward,” he said. “You need to be cautious about it. It’s not just the lottery that drives the baskets.”
The Senate continued approving and rejecting amendments into the evening and will meet again on Wednesday ahead of an expected vote on the wider budget Thursday.
Herald wire service contributed.