Gambling Action Alert
February 8, 2006
Senate Bill 2378 for Internet Lottery was heard in the Senate Executive Committee today! After questioning from the committee, the sponsor agreed to make some changes before calling it for a vote in committee next week. One of the changes will be to permit the use of credit cards to gamble online.
For Immediate Action
- Call your State Senator (217-782-2000) to tell him/her that you are opposed to SB 2378, the Internet Lottery bill. Let him/her know this is an expansion of gambling and ask them to oppose SB 2378.
- Share this Action Alert with your church, synagogue or mosque.
- Ask 5 other people to call their Senators (friends, family, co-workers, etc.)
Talking Points
- The Lottery is a legal form of gambling, but the Internet is not. Internet gambling is illegal in the United States according to the U. S. Wire Act (18-USC section 1084). Illinois would be the first state to sell Lottery tickets on the Internet.
- SB 2378 requires the Department of Revenue to establish and maintain Internet Lottery through the services of a private vendor. This could be a very lucrative contract. The vendor is entitled to a "reasonable fee" for each player who establishes an account PLUS the same fee earned by sales agents.
- SB 2378 expands gambling to every home and office with a computer. Charitable organizations donate computers to low-income families to help their children in school. Many children and poor families will now be able to lose their money gambling on computers in their homes.
- The National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended a ban on Internet gambling. The Commission also recommended that states curtail the growth of new lottery games. SB 2378 would greatly expand the Illinois Lottery by attracting teens and young adults who have grown up using computers and the Internet.
- Safeguards are inadequate to prevent children from gambling online. No one will be checking I.D.'s at the door to make sure the person is at least 18 years of age.
- There are no safeguards to prevent compulsive gamblers from gambling away their home in their home. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that 5 percent of the people who play the Lottery purchase 51 percent of the Lottery tickets.
- SB 2378 allows any product that is offered for sale by retailers to be sold through the Internet program. People could gamble away hundreds of dollars on Instant Lottery tickets in one sitting.