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Senate rejects proposal to raise lottery purchase age to 21 after amendment delays start date
Summary
Senate Bill 203, which would have raised the minimum age to purchase a lottery ticket from 18 to 21, failed after senators adopted a one-year implementation delay amendment and then voted down final passage 12–23.
Senate Bill 203, a proposal to align lottery scratch-ticket purchase age with other gambling-age limits by raising it from 18 to 21, failed in the Senate after debate and a successful amendment to delay implementation.
Senator Roll, the prime sponsor, argued the measure would make state law consistent: "I think we should have 1 age to gamble," he said, and moved an amendment to delay the effective date 12 months to give the Department of Revenue time to exhaust current ticket inventory. The Senate adopted the amendment (Amendment A) to make the bill effective July 1, 2026.
Opponents, including Senator Wheeler and Senator Carr, said the proposal unduly restricts the freedoms of 18- to 20-year-olds and questioned the policy need. Wheeler noted historical resistance in South Dakota to raising ages for legal activities absent federal mandates and raised logistical questions about winning tickets purchased before the effective date. Senator Carr said the change would be inconsistent with other adult responsibilities bestowed at 18.
After the amendment was adopted, the Senate proceeded to final passage; the bill failed on a roll call of 12 yeas to 23 nays. The Senate debate also recorded Department of Revenue concern about inventory value and implementation costs; Senator Roll put that figure on the record as roughly $1.5 million in current inventory but said the one-year delay was intended to ease implementation.
