Nevada says not yet to the lottery, but this fight's far from over

Nevadans may be ready to scratch their way to million-dollar dreams, but lawmakers in Carson City just aren't dealing them in. Despite overwhelming public support, a recent union-led push, and the promise of new funding for mental health and education, a long-awaited bill to bring a state lottery to Nevada didn't even make it onto the legislative agenda this session.

For a state that practically invented modern gambling, you'd think lottery tickets would be a no-brainer, so why the cold feet?

Legislators hold off on landmark bill

Despite residents of Nevada wanting a state lottery, legislators in Nevada have recently said not so fast. While many thought Bill AJR5 would be brought back up again, it looks like legislators are keeping it on hold and it wasn't put on the agenda for this current legislative agenda.

Bill AJR5 has been on hold for over two years, after it passed two legislative chambers in 2023. Since this bill would be changing the state's constitution, it has to pass through Nevada legislators two times.

Once it gets two approvals from the legislators in both the House and Senate, then it goes to Nevadans for a chance to vote on it. However, legislators are not bringing it up for a second vote since that first vote passed in 2023.

And it won't be coming up in the 83rd Legislative Session, which ends on June 2. There was no mention of the bill in a recent meeting of Nevada's Legislative Operations and Electronics Committee Assembly, which means it won't be brought up in the current legislation.

Recent pushback brought the bill back into the spotlight

While Bill AJR5 has been on hold for over two years, a recent pushback from the Culinary Union Local 226 brought it back to the spotlight. The Union released the results of its own survey, which showed that 84% of Nevada residents are in favor of a state lottery.

From there, the Union requested legislators to draft legislation that could be voted on by the public. Ted Pappageorge, Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer, stated:

Enacting a state lottery is a common-sense solution to help fund youth mental health and public education in our state. Nevadans deserve a chance to vote on this issue — it's time to let the people decide.

Despite that pushback, legislators didn't bring it to the agenda, and no vote by Nevadans will happen anytime soon to make Nevada the 46th state in the United States to start a lottery.

There is hope

While the legislators didn't mention it on the current legislative agenda, that doesn't mean there could be more developments in the meantime before the next session starts in 2027. The Union, most likely, will continue to push legislators to vote on the bill again in hopes of bringing more state funding for local mental health and youth support services.

While there is hope something could happen before 2027, you can expect pushback from the other side of the aisle, too. Since Nevada is home to Las Vegas, the Nevada Resort Association is a big opponent of a state-owned lottery.

They have argued that bringing a lottery to the state and having kiosks at convenience stores and gas stations would bring little benefits to the economy. This, they claim, is especially true in comparison to the casino resort empire on the Vegas strip.

In 2023, Nick Vassiliadis, a Nevada Resorts Association representative, said:

To say that a statewide lottery is going to net a couple of $100 million a year in revenue is somewhat unfounded.

He added there just needs to be more of a discussion on the issue, explaining:

You need to get down into the weeds in terms of what type of lottery you plan on running. That discussion never took place.

Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.