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Judiciary committee backs bill to close loophole allowing sweepstakes-style video gambling in some alcohol-licensed venues
Summary
After debate and calls from law enforcement, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 17–2 to give a favorable report on legislation clarifying that internet sweepstakes/video‑poker style machines are not legal in places that sell alcohol; opponents urged more public input from industry owners before sending the bill to the floor.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 17–2 to give a favorable report on Senate Bill 3, legislation intended to close an identified legal loophole that, sponsors said, some internet sweepstakes operators were using to reintroduce video-poker style gambling into alcohol‑licensed establishments.
Senator from Aiken (speaker 12), the subcommittee chair, told the committee that magistrate rulings had produced contradictory outcomes and that law enforcement and the Attorney General’s office urged clarification. "The overwhelming opinion on this issue is that they're illegal now," the sponsor said, summarizing AG and SLED testimony to the subcommittee.
Committee discussion included calls from some members for the committee to carry the bill over so machine owners and industry representatives could testify. Senator Martinsburg (speaker 6) asked to allow owners a chance to be heard, saying some affected people had not been able to attend subcommittee meetings held during the pre‑file and holiday period and that fairness suggested a delay; he said he would start from a skeptical view of the bill but wanted industry input.
The sponsor and other backers said the bill had been vetted in prior sessions and that law‑enforcement seizures (the record references more than 1,000 machines seized in enforcement actions) and Attorney General input argued for moving promptly. The committee recorded a 17‑to‑2 favorable report and a minority report was noted by Senator Martinsburg.
The bill’s text clarifies statutory interplay between the criminal statutes that prohibit video gambling and the alcohol code (Title 61), and sponsors said S.3 does not attempt in this legislative step to comprehensively regulate every sweepstakes format; they suggested a separate, broader bill could address other forms of sweepstakes. The committee sent the bill to the floor, where fuller debate and any minority reports will be considered.
