Nebraskans can now buy lottery tickets from vending machines

With a new fiscal year starting, a host of new laws and fees are taking effect. One legal change will bring Nebraska in line with a majority of U.S. states in allowing people to purchase lottery tickets from vending machines.

Sen. Dan Quick, who represents a portion of Hall County and the city of Grand Island in Legislative District 35, introduced the bill this previous legislative session. In his argument supporting the vending machines, Quick said in January that of the 45 states that have lotteries, only Nebraska and South Carolina didn’t allow consumers to purchase the tickets from vending machines.

But how does a vending machine verify the purchaser is at least 19 years old? When the bill hit the floor for debate, Quick said that verification is handled by technology.

“When you come in to purchase a ticket, you have to use your valid Nebraska driver's license. It scans the barcode in the back, and then it verifies your age. If you're not of age, it's not going to allow you to purchase a lottery ticket,” Quick said.

The bill eventually received overwhelming support from state lawmakers to pass, but opponents, such as Sen. Rob Clements, who represents Cass County and the eastern outskirts of the city of Lincoln, warned gambling is a tax on the poor.

“I personally had a loan customer who was unable to make his car payment. (He) came into my office and he had $150 car payments -- all it was. He said, ‘Well, I had $50 that I was going to bring you toward the payment, but instead I bought lottery tickets with it, and if I win the lottery, then I'm going to pay the whole car loan off.’ Well, I never heard from him again,” Clements said during floor debate.