Budget conference: House wants more lottery vending machines than Senate

Lottery may be a game of chance, but when it comes to where it falls in the budget, it’s also a matter of negotiation.

As appropriations Chairs work out the final details on a budget destined for a legislative vote next week, one sticking point is how many lottery vending machines to authorize.

While both HB 5001 and SB 2500, the two budget bills, contemplated 3,000 Florida Lottery vending machines as part of a $71,158,570 budget, the current House position is for 3,500 “Full-Service Vending Machines with functionality to sell terminal tickets and instant tickets.”

“It’s not the final expression of what we’ll say, but it is where we are today,” said House Budget Chief Tom Leek in comments to Gary Fineout of POLITICO.

The request suggests a potential end-around to language in both budget bills that stipulates that the “Department of the Lottery is authorized to submit budget amendments in accordance with chapter 216, Florida Statutes, to increase Specific Appropriation 2831 to acquire up to 500 additional ticket terminals,” but with an extra step built in that is absent from this process.

“Prior to the submission of any budget amendment that increases the size of the lottery retailer network, the Revenue Estimating Conference shall determine if sales will increase sufficiently to cover the cost of the terminals, offset any losses to the existing network, and generate additional revenue that benefits the state. The budget amendments will be contingent upon the department’s submission of a plan that includes not only a positive Revenue Estimating Conference impact analysis, but also identifies the specific terminal needs and a plan for distribution of the additional terminals.”