The Missouri House narrowly passed a bill Wednesday to regulate video gambling terminals — the digital slot machines sometimes seen in truck stops, convenience stores and fraternal organizations.
The House approved the bill 83-73. The minimum necessary for a bill to pass the House is 82 votes.
The floor discussion on the bill was lengthy, with representatives from both parties opposed to any expansion of legal gambling.
"To continue to grow the gaming industry by encouraging more gambling, and more gambling addiction, versus policies for our citizens encouraging them to have productive jobs, not encouraging income by chance, is not good policy," said Rep. John Martin, R-Columbia. "This will continue to grow the lobbyist power of the gaming industry in our state government."
Proponents of the bill from both parties argued that passing it would allow the state to assert control over what is currently an unregulated industry and ban predatory practices. Video gambling machines already proliferate throughout the state despite formal gambling bans due to a legal loophole.
Many supporters of the bill said during floor debate that while they were not eager to expand access to gambling, it would be more harmful to leave the machines unregulated.
"It is already increasing gambling," said Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis. "Is it not our right, right now, to have warning labels on these machines? Should we or should we not be legislating these things?"
The bill would require the machines to be set apart from the rest of the establishment they're in, and to have warning labels stating that gambling is addictive. It also would ban the use of the machines for people under 21.
Proponents also said that regulating the machines could provide much-needed income to local governments. The bill stipulates that a majority of proceeds would go to the State Lottery Fund, which by law must be used to fund education. Some money would also go to the Veterans Commission and to the local government where the machine is located.
However, others argued that the income isn't worth the costs of the social ills that gambling can generate.
"Who is going to have to address that, to take care of those folks that might be losing their housing because they've gambled it all away?" said Rep. Michael Burton, D-Lakeshire. "The taxpayers of Missouri."
Due to an amendment added to the bill during floor debate earlier this week, if the bill is passed, county and municipal governments would have the option to opt in to legalizing the machines. They would not become automatically legal.
"We cannot save Missourians from their vices, whether that's alcohol, tobacco, drugs, et cetera. There's a certain level of personal responsibility that goes along with anything that you choose to do," said Rep. Holly Jones, R-Eureka. "An opt-in for our community gives us the option to do so. Bringing money into our communities through regulation is something that I can absolutely support."
Rep. Jeremy Dean, D-Springfield, said while he was opposed to the machines, he supported the bill because it would give his community the power to ban them outright. Springfield is currently embroiled in litigation over a 2024 city ordinance banning the machines.
"They are predatory. I don't like them and I don't want to see them in my community, and neither did our city council," Dean said. "Now what we have in front of us today is a fix. We have the ability for our community to continue to say, 'No, I don't want these here.'"
Some representatives also argued that instead of being decided by the legislature, any expansion of gambling should go to voters.
The bill, House Bill 970, now goes to the Senate.
The River City Journalism Fund supports St. Louis Public Radio's Statehouse internship. Evy Lewis is the 2025 reporting intern. See rcjf.org for more information about the fund, which seeks to advance journalism in St. Louis.
Copyright 2025 St. Louis Public Radio
