Gaming subcommittee advances bill allowing state to intercept video-lottery prizes for state debts

The Ways and Means Committee gaming subcommittee advanced House Bill 289 on March 5, 2026, approving amendments that authorize the state to certify debts for interception from video lottery prize payouts and harmonize prize-interception language across statutes.

The chair opened the meeting and said the bill "authoriz[es] the central collection unit to certify a debt or claims owed to the state and the responsible debtor to a video lottery operator for prize interception." Staff member George Butler told members that amendments circulated ahead of the meeting "simply conform the language among the various existing prize interception statutes" and that a technical amendment would be added to specify that intercepted prizes under the new statutory section would be those for which a W-2G (or similar) tax form is issued.

Members asked clarifying questions. One member raised whether the state could recoup funds if an interception proved erroneous; Butler said that the bill follows existing intercept provisions and includes the ability to recoup errors "consistent with other intercept provisions currently in law." Delegate Episol, who said he was "coming in from the outside lane" on the issue, asked whether the change was essentially "adding BLTs to this program" and copying boilerplate language; Butler confirmed it adds video lottery operators to existing state-owed debt intercepts and aligns the statutory language.

A committee member moved to adopt the circulated amendments and another delegate seconded the motion. The chair called for approval of the amendment by voice/hand and then for a motion to advance the bill as amended toward a vote. After brief additional clarification from Butler about the W-2G requirement, the committee proceeded. The chair characterized the committee response as appearing unanimous. Individual vote tallies were not specified on the record.

The subcommittee advanced House Bill 289 to the full Ways and Means Committee for further consideration. No formal roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript; the chair indicated the measure would be dealt with later in committee.

Next steps: the bill will be considered in full committee, and the additional technical amendment mentioned by staff will be incorporated before any final floor vote.