No credit cards, but Colorado iLottery survives Senate vote

Colorado lawmakers have taken a big step in the lottery debate, approving a bill that bans credit card purchases for tickets while stopping short of shutting down online play altogether. The Senate's vote on SB-117 reflects a growing push to balance revenue opportunities with player protections, especially as the state eyes a digital future for the lottery.

Senate votes to ban credit card lottery sales

State senators in Colorado have approved Senate Bill 117, which was first proposed back in February in the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly.

With this approval, senators approved a ban on credit card payments for Colorado Lottery products. The senators were looking to reverse a Colorado Lottery Commission plan, which is set to launch online lottery ticket sales and allow for credit card payments by 2027.

The CLC plan was put into place and voted on by the commission without any input from lawmakers. Now, lawmakers are trying to reverse what the CLC is trying to do.

For the vote, SB-117 was approved by 22 votes in favor and 13 votes against. However, it did contain some significant changes from the initial version.

Online lottery ticket sales remain in the clear

While senators approved the ban on credit card payments for lottery products, they did remove the ban on online lottery ticket sales.

The final version of SB-117 that was approved by Colorado Senators had significant changes from the original bill. To start, the ban on online purchases of lottery tickets or scratch-off tickets was removed by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Instead of a ban on all online lottery tickets, they banned any products that “resemble casino gaming.” In essence, they are trying to prevent the Colorado Lottery from offering any online slot-style instant win games.

The changes essentially banned credit card purchases, but kept the hopes alive of bringing iLottery to the state. The Colorado Lottery is still able to move forward with its digital ambitions.

What happens next?

SB-117 doesn't contain a total ban on online lottery in Colorado. It does prevent the “slot-style games” and accepting credit card payments.

So, what happens next? This bill, as it's now written, will head to the House of Representatives. While there, it could face even more amendments. If approved, the final bill would then be sent to Governor Jared Polis' desk, where he would have to sign off on it to become law.

Political divide in the state

There definitely seems to be a political divide in the state right now. The CLC tried to push these changes with only notifying lawmakers of the changes just days before they voted on them.

The Senate made changes as the bill made it through legislation, finally landing on approval of just a ban on credit card sales. Meanwhile, Governor Jared Polis seems to be in favor of no bans at all.

Polis' administration sees expansion of the lottery as a good way to help generate revenue for various state programs. Meanwhile, state senators feel that a combination of “slot games in your pocket” and allowing credit card sales could end in disaster for some Coloradans.

During the hearing, Senator Amabile, a co-author of SB-117, stated:

I'm terrified that if everybody gets a slot machine on their phone, and they have their credit card on there, they'll just be able to destroy their lives by gambling.

Enjoy playing the Colorado Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.