KARE 11 – A coalition of gambling opponents Thursday called on state lawmakers to pass a bill blocking the Minnesota Lottery from launching an online scratch game, or electronic instant ticket.
“We’re going to be able to go online and instantly be able to play a game of chance with instant scratch-offs, so they’re progressing very rapidly at the Lottery,” Jake Grassel of Citizens Against Gambling Expansion, or CAGE, told reporters at the State Capitol.
The paper version the scratch-off games have been part of the lotto landscape in Minnesota since April of 1990, when the first tickets were sold in the state. But the idea of letting people scratch away with a computer mouse in the virtual world, spending real money, is catching heat from organizations who’ve always been against state sponsored wagering.
“Where do 18 to 24 year olds live? They live online,” Brian Rusche of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition said.
“So they’re moving aggressively to promote and expand online lottery sales.”
Rusche’s group typically supports Democratic legislation designed to enhance the lives of lower income Minnesotans, such as public assistance and health care programs.
But Rusche said he was happy to share the stage Thursday with people from groups that typically back Republican legislation, such as the Minnesota Taxpayers League, the Freedom Foundation, and the Minnesota Family Council.
“Just because a website says something’s a ticket doesn’t make it a ticket.You’re buying a chance electronically.”
