Senate Finance adopts amendment preserving couriers and banning credit‑card lottery purchases in SB 117

Senate Finance spent the bulk of its hearing on SB 26‑117, a bill from Senators Faith Amabile and Pete Bridges that would roll back a recent Lottery Commission/Department rule expansion by prohibiting the use of credit cards to buy lottery tickets and limiting the department’s ability to run 24/7 iLottery-style games without further legislative action. Sponsors and witnesses framed the question as balancing two aims: preserving lottery proceeds that fund parks and other voter‑directed programs, and preventing expanded access to highly addictive game designs.

Senator Amabile told the committee she feared unchecked mobile games would expand gambling harms — “I don’t want us to set up a whole generation of Coloradans who are in desperate financial straits” — and said she sought a measured path that curbs the most harmful elements of online play. Senator Bridges described the lottery’s November rule change as “the single largest expansion to lottery in the history of lottery,” saying the current rules produce games that “look like slots on your phone” and argued the legislature should set guardrails.

Lottery and public‑health witnesses gave contrasting perspectives. Amanda Quintana, the Colorado Lottery’s player health manager, said a regulated digital platform can enable stronger protections than a cash‑only system: age and identity verification, deposit and time limits, self‑exclusion and behavioral monitoring that can trigger interventions before harms escalate. “These tools allow prevention efforts to occur before harm develops,” she said. Tom Seaver, senior director of the Colorado Lottery, warned that failing to modernize could shrink the player base and reduce funds to GOCO and other beneficiaries; he argued digital platforms have raised retail sales in other states by attracting new players and cross‑promoting in‑store redemptions.

Opponents included problem‑gambling advocates and several conservation groups. Jackie Miller of Great Outdoors Colorado and Jason Swan of the Trust for Public Land urged caution, saying longstanding conservation funding depends on lottery revenues and that a precipitous drop in proceeds would harm parks and open‑space programs.

The courier industry and retailers also testified. Rob Porter, chief legal officer at lotto.com, said couriers physically buy paper tickets at licensed retailers, geolocate transactions to Colorado, undergo audits and follow responsible‑play limits; he urged the committee to preserve the existing courier model. Retailers and convenience‑store operators warned that state-run online sales or credit‑card purchases could undermine brick‑and‑mortar commissions and local businesses.

Vice Chair Marchman offered amendment L1003 to restore the 2023 courier rules and to retain a prohibition on credit‑card sales. With no objection raised on the floor, the amendment was adopted. After closing remarks, the committee voted to send SB 26‑117, as amended, to the Appropriations Committee; the chair reported the recorded path as 5–4.

What’s next: SB 26‑117 will be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The amendment preserves courier operations under prior rules while keeping a ban on credit‑card purchases; sponsors and opponents both signaled willingness to continue negotiations on language addressing both consumer protection and fiscal effects.