Penelope Kyle of the North American Association of State & Provincial Lotteries testified to a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee Thursday that her organization's members do not have unanimous agreement on the subject of Internet gambling.
But, she said, NASPL's members agree on at least one thing, and that is their belief that each of America's states should be able to choose what methods of gambling are available to its citizens.
Kyle, who is the president of that organization, said, "My goal in coming before your committee today is to make one key point to Congress: NASPL would not support any Internet legislation that would preempt the right of the nation's governors and state legislators to authorize and regulate gaming within their borders."
NASPL represents 38 state lotteries and the District of Columbia, the Canadian Provincial Lotteries, the Virgin Island Lotteries, the Jamaican Lottery and the Lottery in Puerto Rico. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation met July 12 to address financial issues involved in potential legislation officially outlawing Internet gambling in the United States.
State lotteries in the United States have historically had the right to police themselves. Kyle said that since the start of the New Hampshire Lottery in 1964, states have been in charge of authorizing and regulating their lotteries free of federal influence. The state lotteries have resulted in billions of tax dollars raised for such causes as education, the environment and senior citizen programs.
eLot Inc., a company that has developed transitional e-commerce systems for governmental lotteries, issued a statement in favor of Kyle's remarks.
"NASPL's strong stance in supporting state's rights is important as we continue to work to achieve a lottery 'carve out' from any Internet gambling legislation that might come up in the year's congressional session," said eLot CEO Ed McGuinn. "The proactive involvement of NASPL is vital to this mission and helps to focus the attention of the Congress on where it belongs, on the unregulated and untaxed offshore casino industry."
Charles Degliomini, eLot's senior vice president, said he thought the day's testimony went a long way in getting U.S. legislators to the point where they can decide what groups will be inside and which will be outside of any prohibitive legislation. His company is looking for a provision in any potential I-gaming bill that would continue states' ability to govern their individual lotteries.
"In other words, the defined groups would not be lotteries," he said. "Basically as we see it, it's a states' rights issue."
Degliomini echoed Kyle's statement. She noted that several NASPL members are strongly opposed to offering state lottery games via the Internet. Other members, conversely, "feel that there may come a time in the future when it is appropriate to offer such games."
"We may not all agree on the value or appropriateness of Internet lottery games, but we are united in the belief that it should be clearly a state's right to authorize and regulate its own lottery," Kyle said.
eLot provides e-commerce services to the lotteries in Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Kentucky, Degliomini said. Those services include "second-chance websites," which enable a player to check the serial number on the back of a losing lottery ticket with the number on a website to enter a contest for another prize. He said that when and if state lotteries debut on the Internet, eLot would want to do business with them.
"If [the issue of Internet gambling in the U.S] is cleared up," he said, "it brings us a step forward to online ticket sales--an important step closer."