Committee advances amended omnibus bill adding lottery safeguards, limits on lottery couriers and alcohol licensing changes including wine delivery and distill-

The Indiana House Committee on Public Policy advanced an amended Senate Bill 94 that combines multiple topics: lottery safeguards, a prohibition on lottery courier services unless authorized by statute, and several alcohol-industry provisions including wine delivery rules and an increase in artisan distiller production limits.

Chairman Manning explained that amendment 4 replaced the bill text with language restoring the original Senate Bill 94 provision that a municipality may not require a permittee to purchase containers from a designated vendor, and that it also inserted lottery-commission language carried in another bill. Manning said the inserted language authorizes the Lottery Commission to regulate bulk purchases of lottery products and to designate certain records as confidential for the “security, integrity, and fairness of the lottery.”

Representative Owen asked whether the lottery commission sought the language; Manning replied questions could be answered by committee members and described problems experienced in other states. Manning cited a Texas example in which a buyer spent about $26,000,000 on bulk purchases and later won an $85,000,000 jackpot, prompting concerns about the need for regulatory tools to prevent similar outcomes.

Amendment 3 defines “lottery courier service” and directs that the Lottery Commission may not authorize such services until the Legislature expressly permits them. Manning said without concurrent statutory changes around iLottery, courier services would allow online purchases that are effectively similar to iLottery and should be prohibited until the Legislature addresses both topics together.

Amendment 8 folded several alcohol-related bills into SB 94 so the measures could be addressed on the floor together. Those provisions include a wine-delivery change restricting delivery to wine dealers when delivered by a W-2 employee, an increase in the artisan distiller production cap from 20,000 gallons to 30,000 gallons, clarifying language on transfers and bonds, and three-way permit provisions for the city of Warsaw and the town of Syracuse; the three-way permits carry a fee. A chairman's amendment adjusted a deadline date in the text from occurring before July 1, 2025, to occurring after July 1, 2025.

Amendment 7 (initially described as amendment 2 in committee discussion) shortens the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission’s notice requirement for a hearing to revoke or suspend a permit from at least 10 days to three business days in targeted circumstances; Manning said the amendment scales down earlier, broader proposals to allow quicker action against establishments posing public-safety concerns.

There were no external witnesses signed up for the committee's consideration of the amended bill. Committee members moved to pass the bill as amended and the measure passed in committee by roll call, 12-0.

The amended bill is omnibus in nature: it combines lottery regulation tools, a temporary prohibition on lottery courier services until legislative authorization, and multiple alcohol-industry regulatory changes. Committee discussion included concerns about large bulk lottery purchases, the interaction of courier services with iLottery policy, production limits for artisan distillers, permit fees for municipal three-way permits, and an expedited ATC hearing notice standard for problem establishments. Manning and other committee members indicated some members may review specific provisions on the floor before final votes there.