Ohio Recommendations Due in March

The Ohio Lottery Profits Review Commission, a joint legislative and governor-appointed body studying the state lottery, will meet for the first time next week to discuss its findings and recommendations after hearing testimony from various groups. One such recommendation could be for the implementation of a state-run Internet lottery.

Based upon their discussions, the Commission will then present its report to Governor Bob Taft and the Ohio State Legislature this spring.

While there is no guarantee that the Commission will recommend the sale of lottery tickets via the Internet, said Commission Chairman State Rep. Donald Mottley, it is one possible recommendation, and would surely be the most debated.

If the commission should recommend Internet lottery ticket sales, he added, they would need to build a good defense of the recommendation. The Commission may suggest various restrictions for Internet lottery sales, such as disallowing the use of credit cards, setting up betting limits, and restricting sales to users meeting age limits and located within state borders.

The Commission is also likely to suggest the need for a problem gambling lottery study in its report.

The report is due March 1, but may not be released until mid-March.