43
Panel approves purchase of gaming machines for veterans and fraternal groups
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
A lawmaker panel gave its approval Monday to the state lottery commission’s plans to buy up to 1,200 new electronic gaming machines for use by veterans and fraternal groups.
The Controlling Board vote was unanimous, with its four Republican and two Democratic members agreeing to the request after about 45 minutes of questions.
The lottery commission asked lawmakers to release about $23 million to purchase “multi-purpose, next-generation” electronic devices. The units are aimed at replacing raffle machines in use at some locations that were deemed illegal by Attorney General Mike DeWine last year.
He subsequently ordered lodges and posts to remove the machines from their premises, though a court order has allowed their continued use pending a legal challenge.
The terminals would be manufactured in Ohio by Intralot, which has provided systems for the state’s video-lottery terminal and other lottery games, and would be available for use in about six months.
The new devices will be designated exclusively for veterans posts and fraternal lodges and will allow cash-paying patrons to play new lottery games, with messages about wins and losses displayed electronically instead of via a printed ticket.
Licensed lodges and posts would be able to request up to five of the new gaming machines. Forty percent of the net proceeds would go to those locations, while 60 percent would be directed to educational purposes through the state’s lottery profit fund.
Connie Miller, director of operations for the lottery commission, told the Controlling Board Monday that the new machines would generate more than $7 million for lodges and posts and $10 million-plus for the lottery fund. She said veterans and fraternal groups already have requested more than 600 of the units.
The attorney general’s decision last year prompted an outcry from some veterans and fraternal groups, who aren’t supporting the new lottery proposal. About 20 veterans attended Monday’s controlling-board session to show their opposition.
“We don’t need the state appropriating $23.5 million for something that we do not want,” said Gerald Ward, past state commander of the Ohio’s Veterans of Foreign Wars. “We feel our electronic raffle terminals are legal.”