TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A bill that would have required warnings on all Florida Lottery tickets will not become a law.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill Friday.
(See Florida lawmakers want to slap addiction warning notices on every lottery ticket, Lottery Post, May 2, 2019.)
In a memo that accompanied the veto, DeSantis explained that Florida Lottery revenue goes to public education and that an agency analysis showed the bill could lead to a minimum $79.4 million reduction in education funding.
A legislative staff analysis of the bill says annual Florida Lottery sales have grown to exceed $6 billion. The bill would have required vendors to place one of the following warnings prominently on the front of all lottery tickets: "WARNING: LOTTERY GAMES MAY BE ADDICTIVE." or "PLAY RESPONSIBLY."
The Florida Lottery already encourages customers to "Play Responsibly" and widely advertises a toll-free phone number for a referral service to assist people with gambling problems.
Florida isn't a "nanny state"!
Good news there. Reminds me of a story in my PICU talking some issue with a Grandmother who was there was her Grandson, a patient I worked with. I had to clean up my language and told her 'People are going to drink, people are going to smoke, people are going to screw, people are going to gamble'. Point is a stupid warning label would do nothing to deter folks from playing.
That's true. I used to know a guy who would hit himself in the head with a hammer because he said it felt so good when he stopped.
The warning is just a type of standard legal disclaimer. Such disclaimers are on everything from ladders to plastic bags. It is designed to reduce or prevent lawsuits with claims such as " I did not know if I spent all of my money gambling, I could not pay my mortgage!"
Lol is that like paint can warnings, “Do not eat paint, may cause......”
Lol. Do not place on head. This plastic bag is a suffocation device.
Governor Ron DeSantis won his election and the voters should be proud of him.
The toll-free phone number for gambling problems is the first step in getting help.
Or on a suppository: "Not to be taken orally".
Artist nailed it.
The proposed warning label had nothing to do with looking after players, the lottery knows they'll keep playing.
It was all about covering the lottery when some heavy player (or someone greatly overstating their amount played) said, "I would never have played that much money if I knew those games could be that addictive."
Losers like to have something to blame it on.
Even Florida's governor doesn't get it. Yo Gov., don't be surprised if you just invited a "nobody warned me" lawsuit
Exactly right Coin Toss. The warning would be a rebutable presumption but something
very unforseen would have to occur for the warning to have no weight.
What took Florida so long ? Think of all the broken marriages the warning could have saved. Seriously, they have a gambling problem hotline posted in casinos and nobody pays them any mind. N.C. has had that on the back of each ticket since starting 13 years ago.
I worked at a manufacturing plant in the early 90's that made cigarettes and the Surgeon General required all packs and cartoons to have the warning label placed on them. Well, here it is over 25 years later and habits continue.
Yep, it's all cover your @$$ for Florida and nothing else.