NEW MEXICO ACTION ALERT—SB 355—“PURCHASE OF LOTTERY TICKETS WITH CARD” WILL APPEAR IN HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE IN NEXT TWO DAYS, AND WILL LIKELY BE VOTED ON IN WHOLE HOUSE SHORTLY THEREAFTER.
New Mexico SB 355 would allow customers at gas stations to use credit or debit cards to purchase lottery tickets at the gas pump. The project proposed by the state lottery board is called “Pay At The Pump.”
Studies in many states show that the state lotteries gain a majority of their lottery revenue from minorities, the poor and the uneducated, and that “pay at the Pump” would further exploit the poor in our state by extending the reach of the lottery. It is shrewd business tactics for a toxic product.
Senate Bill 355 is the vehicle that could legalize this terrible idea, and it is the beginning of a plan by the lottery board to extend the opportunity to purchase lottery tickets first to gas pumps, second to ATM’s around the state, and finally to mobile devices. It is shameful for the state to exploit its citizens to raise money for its programs, no matter how worthy the programs.
These grandiose plans would expand the predatory nature of the lottery and exploit our citizens in the name of assisting the scholarship fund.
Please email or call your State Representative ASAP.
If you are not sure who your representative is, click on this link . Then Click on “OR Search by Address,” below “Name of Legislator”
That will give you a field to enter your address. Key your address in the field, and if it is working right it will bring up the name of your representative. Click on that, and you will get his/her phone number and email address.
You can then call the representative’s office phone number, and you will probably have to leave your message with their secretary. Make it short, to the point, and be polite. You can say something like, “Please don’t vote for Senate Bill 355. We don’t need the lottery invading more areas of our lives.” About the only questions they ask is for your address, or if you live in the representative’s district.
Please forward this email to your email lists.
Many thanks for your continued help,
Dr. Guy C. Clark, chairman
Stop Predatory Gambling New Mexico
