Committee probes VLTs, tax split, charity payouts and safeguards in wide SB 83 work session

The New Hampshire House Ways and Means Committee spent a lengthy work session discussing Senate Bill 83, which would expand gaming options in the state to allow video lottery terminals (VLTs) and make multiple related changes to oversight, tax rates, and distributions.

The bill drew extensive questions from committee members about wagering limits, machine-to-table ratios, charity distributions and how state revenue would be split. Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, and other agency staff answered technical questions and described operational and regulatory issues related to VLTs, wide-area progressive jackpots, “free play” accounting and enforcement.

Committee members said the bill bundles several distinct topics — VLT operations and definitions, tax and distribution structure, renaming and a voluntary self-exclusion database — and urged the committee to parse them carefully. Some members recommended additional fiscal modeling and phased implementation before the committee takes a formal position.

McIntyre said several mechanics of the proposal would be managed by the commission but that many operational choices would remain business decisions for operators. On the question of “no maximum wager”…