Committee advances gambling bill with video-lottery limits, higher casino fee and misdemeanor reclassification

A Missouri House committee on Monday adopted a new House Committee Substitute for House Bill 2989 and voted 8–5 to send it forward, approving changes lawmakers said will tighten oversight of video lottery terminals and related gaming activity.

Representative Bill Hardwick (House District 121), who summarized the committee substitute, told members the bill removes outdated references to the Missouri Gaming Bureau at the Missouri Highway State Patrol’s request, clarifies when third parties must report winnings for federal tax purposes, and increases an opt-out period for municipalities from 90 to 120 days. Hardwick also said the committee changed an effective date from August 2027 to August 2028 to give businesses a longer transition window.

Among the substantive changes Hardwick described, the substitute raises the fee charged for interest from a casino from $2 to $4 per occurrence and directs the additional $2 to the Missouri Veterans Commission. The substitute also includes language reclassifying a previous class E felony to a class A misdemeanor in certain circumstances and contains standardized severability provisions.

Representative Herbert, speaking for an amendment adopted as part of the substitute, said the change bars “any device that was previously determined to be an illegal gambling machine by the Missouri Gaming Commission” from being licensed as a video lottery game terminal, preventing operators from attempting to legalize illegal hardware with software updates. "We're trying to get rid of the illegal machines that have been operating for the past five years illegally," Herbert said during debate.

Another adopted amendment requires that gaming machines not be placed in direct line of sight of a business’s front entrance, a provision sponsors said is intended to reduce exposure to children and families. A third technical amendment fixed drafting errors related to dates.

The committee rolled the amendments into a new substitute and adopted it. In the subsequent roll-call vote the clerk recorded the votes as follows (as read at the hearing): Chairman Christ — yes; Vice Chair Peters — yes; Representative Fuchs — no; Davidson — yes; Hausman — no (in a later vote Hausman had voted no on HB 2989); Hinman — no; Ruiza — aye; Grohlbert — aye; Jones — no; Olerkane — aye; Overcast — aye; Thomas — no; Weber — yes. The chair announced an overall tally of 8 ayes and 5 no's and declared the HCS for HB 2989 voted "do pass."

The committee did not finalize statutory text changes on the floor beyond the amendments adopted in committee; the committee’s action advances the substitute to the next step in the legislative process.

No attorneys or external agency representatives testified during the executive-session portion; Hardwick said he would circulate a summary of remaining changes and forthcoming amendments. The bill’s supporters argue the changes improve enforcement and provide additional local control and veteran program funding; opponents raised concerns during the roll call and registered five opposing votes.

The committee concluded its executive session and moved to public hearings on other bills.