Oregon Rep. Carolyn Tomei celebrates victory as two new bills aimed at making the state lottery advertise the importance of responsible gambling have been passed in the House.
Two new bills were recently passed in Oregon, a result of Rep. Carolyn Tomei's unflagging efforts over the last number of years to implement limitations onto Oregon's lottery.
"I'm very excited," Tomei said after the bills got moved on to the Senate. "I feel very optimistic that we can make some change in the lottery that will make them less addictive."
Oregon's Lottery
What exactly is wrong with the lottery? According to Tomei, the addictiveness has ruined thousands of lives within the state, and the new bills are geared to promote a healthy balance between serving the public good while educating them about responsible gambling.
The Bills
The first bill, House Bill 4040, calls for the lottery to "balance its obligation to maximize net revenues with its obligation to serve the public good." In other words, the lottery is still allowed to make money, but they need to inform players of the potential risks involved.
The second bill, House Bill 4028, authorizes the lottery to continue spending money on producing problem-gambling outreach ads.
After the bills were passed, Tomei commented that the bills send "a clear message that the lottery must examine the effects of its decisions on vulnerable players."
The Future of Online Gambling Legislation
The Oregon Lottery owns over 12,000 slots and poker machines all over the state, and has recently been accused of replacing older machines with newer, slicker ones in order to entice more young people to gamble. The lottery brings in $1 billion of revenue in the state's two-year budget.
While Tomei might have won a small victory in legislating Oregon's land-based casinos, there has been no mention of the online gambling that takes place, nor have any bills been put into motion to regulate it.
Online lottery tickets are quite possibly the most popular form of online gambling, and by registering through an online lottery ticket agency, players in the United States can buy tickets for some of the biggest jackpots in the world.
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