Bill would legalize slot-style video lottery terminals, create statewide self-exclusion list and fund municipal tax credits

Senate Bill 83, a comprehensive gambling-industry bill that would legalize Class III slot machines (video lottery terminals or VLTs), rename the state Lottery to include gaming, and create a voluntary statewide self-exclusion list, drew extensive testimony at the Senate Ways and Means hearing.

Sponsor’s description: The bill’s sponsor said it implements recommendations from a state gaming study commission and would modernize treatment of gaming as the industry evolves. “We…rename the division of lottery to lottery and gaming,” the sponsor said, and the measure would authorize VLTs, align operational rules and establish a tax-and-distribution framework for the anticipated revenue.

Revenue and distribution: The sponsor described a proposed 40% tax on gross revenue after prize payouts, with charities continuing to receive an operator-level share (the sponsor said charities would receive their current 35%). The remainder of the state share would be allocated to multiple purposes. The bill would create an “elderly, disabled, blind, deaf exemption reimbursement fund” to reimburse municipalities for property-tax credits so the cost would not be redistributed to other local taxpayers; the sponsor said that fund would be supported by a portion of video-slot revenue and that DRA estimates the current statewide elderly/disabled credit cost at about $24 million annually. The sponsor also told the committee that 50% of the state’s slot revenue was proposed to be set aside to help fund proposed group-2 retirement adjustments included in separate executive proposals.

Responsible-gaming measures: SB 83 would establish a voluntary statewide self-exclusion registration so individuals who ask to be excluded could not gaming operators across the state. The sponsor and gaming-industry witnesses called the list a standard responsible-gaming tool and said it closes a current gap in which exclusion is kept at the facility level only.

Support and opposition: Alicia Preston of the New Hampshire Charitable Gaming Operators Association testified in favor of the measure’s modernization and recommended a 30% tax rate rather than 25% because VLT operational costs differ from historic-horse-racing machines. The association also supported the statewide self-exclusion system. However, Preston and other operators warned the committee that introducing VLTs and online tethering could cannibalize brick-and-mortar traffic and cost food-and-beverage and employment revenues tied to physical facilities. Industry representatives asked the committee to weigh that local economic impact against state revenue and charity distributions.

Committee action and context: The committee held a public hearing; the transcript records testimony for and against the bill and no final committee vote in the public record excerpt. The sponsor asked the committee to review fiscal notes and tax-rate comparisons across states before setting a final rate in committee.

What to watch: Key implementation questions include the tax rate ultimately set by lawmakers, the mechanics of the charitable distribution, the size and operation of the municipal reimbursement fund for tax credits, and how much of the revenue will be earmarked for group-2 retirement fixes. The bill would require rulemaking and licensing steps by the Lottery (renamed Lottery and Gaming Commission) if enacted.