Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Gambling Control division highlights steady fund balance, regulation work and online-gambling crackdown plans
Summary
The Gambling Control Division told lawmakers it expects slightly lower biennial spending and steady fund balances while describing compliance, lab testing and enforcement work. Division officials and the attorney general described efforts to counter offshore online gambling and to assist small businesses and nonprofits with compliance.
The Gambling Control Division told the subcommittee it requests a slightly smaller 2027 biennium budget than the base the committee adopted, reflecting statewide present-law adjustments and lower fixed-cost estimates following DOJ centralization of some functions.
Jason Johnson, administrator of the Gambling Control Division, described a lean operation with 34 FTE and seven offices across Montana (Billings, Helena, Missoula, Kalispell, Great Falls, Bozeman and Glendive). Johnson said the division’s primary funding source is the gambling license fee account, supported mainly by video gaming machine permit fees. The division reported a projected fund balance near $3.0–$3.5 million for the biennium.
Johnson also provided an operations overview: the division operates a lab in Helena that tests video gaming machines and software, provides audits and criminal-background checks, conducts…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat