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A debate over video lottery terminals appears to be on the horizon in the next legislative session, according to a Missouri state politics expert who has been monitoring the ongoing saga.
Missouri Scout publisher Dave Drebs notes that recent donations to lobbyists on both sides of the issue indicate that the VLT debate will be reactivated when the Missouri General Assembly reconvenes in January, per a report published in the St. Louis Business Journal.
Drebs observed that a lot of money has been going to PACs associated with a former Missouri lawmaker who is now a lobbyist.
“The legislature has been hamstrung in large part because of Strategic Capitol Consulting. That’s the lobbying firm founded by former House Speaker Steven Tilley. Among its many clients are Torch Electronics, which operates the machines, and Warrenton Oil, which runs convenience stores where they’re located. They’ve successfully fought off bills that would doom their machines … In June, Torch Electronics sent $600,000 to seven political action committees associated with Tilley’s lobbying firm. And Warrenton Oil added another $100,000.”
He also noted that J&J Ventures, which operates VLTs in neighboring Illinois and other states, has “been sending money to PACs as well, over $200,000 since the session ended in mid-May.”
Progress last session
In the 2025 session that concluded in May, the House narrowly passed a bill that sought to legalize VLTs. But House Bill 970 only got as far as the public hearing stage in the Senate before the session ended.
The bill’s opponents included Missouri casinos, which view VLTs as illegal gambling. They contend that legalizing VLTs would run afoul of the Missouri Constitution, which requires an amendment, and therefore a referendum, to add any new forms of gambling to the state.
Voters did recently approve a referendum to expand gambling in the state. Last November, they voted to legalize sports betting, which launches Dec. 1. It should be noted that the referendum barely passed, by a mere .05%.
Drebs thinks there’s a simple solution.
“There’s a relatively easy compromise here. Grandfather in the existing ‘gray’ machines, but no more, and allow a set number of legal machines to come into the state as well.”
The bill, as constituted last year, called for the following provisions:
- Each location to house VLTs would be limited to a maximum of eight machines.
- There would be no restriction on where the VLTs could be located or a limit on the total number machines across the state.
- Gray market machines would become illegal.
- Local governments would be able to vote on whether they want to allow VLTs in their communities.
- VLTs would be required to pay out at least 80% of wagers.
House Speaker Jon Patterson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in April, as the House was handing off the passed bill to the Senate, that he favored the state stepping in to control VTLs.
“If people are doing it, I would rather have them regulated and taxed and to make sure that kids aren’t doing it. So, I am in favor of the bill itself.”
