Video slot update: bill passes
For those following the video slot machine debate, the conference committee has reached an agreement. Already, the House has approved that final draft. Once the Senate does, the bill will head to the governor for his approval.
As reported earlier, the bill makes sure that the Cherokee Indian Tribe can keep its casino open. It also tightens language so that the sweepstakes loophole as well as any close relatives are wiped out.
“We hope it will put an end to video poker once and for all,” said Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin, one of the prime movers behind the bill.
Update: The Senate has passed the bill, it is headed to the governor.
Update 2: A little more information on what went down:
The state will ban a kind of video slot machine that has proliferated since legislators passed a ban on video poker in 2006.The new games use terminals connected to remote computer servers and are based on a sweepstakes scheme. They take advantage of what legislators say was an unintentional loophole in the earlier law.
A bill the General Assembly passed Thursday afternoon, with only two dissenting votes in the House, closes that loophole and is on its way to the governor for his signature.
"We hope it will put an end to video poker once and for all," said Melanie Wade Goodwin, a Richmond County Democrat who was on of the measure's primary supporters.
The bill has been in a conference committee for much of this week as legislators tried to work out final touches. The final draft makes ensures that it does not accidentally outlaw the casinos operate by the Cherokee Indian Tribe. It also broadens the prohibition to include and sort of promotion, not just sweepstakes, that would use such computers.
Possessing or distributing the video slot games will become a crime on Dec. 1.
Comments (1)
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So how do these server sweepstakes differ than the ones coke and pepsi use for people to acess their numbers via computer? Its a shame poltics is so screwed up that they can be bias as to what is deemed legal or not. I enjoy playing the games and will be sad when they go. Know we can give all the indians our money and the arabs (gas) Wake up America! They had no say in this bill and i'm sure if they did they would not have passed it. But since politicians don't have a benifit(open hand) and don't understand it them deem it wrong. LOL and they have such high morals. I side comment and sad commentary is that the ones designing these games are smarter than the politicians who out law them. They will be back in a different format.
Posted on July 17, 2008 9:29 PM