Any hopes for a Nevada state lottery in the current decade are dead after a bill to implement one failed to emerge from the Legislative Operations and Elections Committee before the deadline last Friday. Due to the state’s unusual laws, a repeat attempt would take at least five more years to come to fruition, even if lawmakers were to begin again immediately.
Assembly Joint Resolution 5 (AJR5) proposed to amend the Nevada Constitution to revise the prohibition against the sale of lottery tickets. Due to it being a bill that would amend the constitution, Nevada requires the bill to pass through both the Assembly and the Senate in two legislative sessions. Those only occur every other year.
Because of last Friday’s inaction, Nevada goes back to the starting line if it decides to pursue a lottery in the future. It’s likely Nevada will remain one of the five states without any form of a lottery for some time.
Economic concerns lead to lottery’s failure to advance
AJR5 was introduced in the 2023 legislative session. It passed the Nevada Assembly (26-15) and Senate (12-8) that year.
According to Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas), the bill passed largely to give lawmakers more time to consider participating in multistate lotteries.
The bill was introduced by Cameron Miller, who was Assistant Majority Assembly Floor Leader in 2023. However, he elected not to run for reelection in the 2025 session. On top of that, all 42 Assembly seats were up for grabs coming into the new year.
Yeager told the Nevada Independent that economic uncertainty played a role in AJR5 not progressing.
“With so much economic uncertainty and shocking federal funding cuts, this measure will not move forward.”
Nevada lottery won’t be established for at least five years
Now that AJR5 officially did not see the finish line, Nevada must start the race all over again if it seeks to have a lottery.
This race will definitely be a marathon, not a sprint.
Even the most optimistic outlook would see Nevada waiting until at least 2030 before launching a lottery. Here’s what would be required to meet that timeline:
- A bill that passes through the Nevada Assembly and Senate in 2027
- A bill that passes through the Nevada Assembly and Senate in 2029
- A public vote in the 2030 election
Even if all those steps occurred, that would merely establish permission for Nevada to introduce a lottery. That would still leave legislators and regulators with the task of determining the specifics and seeing to the roll-out, which could take additional time.
Nevada voters support a state-run lottery
Though lawmakers are at odds over the prospect of a lottery, the public seems to be strongly behind the idea.
A poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights last year gauged the opinions of 829 registered Nevada voters on the proposal. It found that 75% of participants said they were in total support of a lottery. Only 13% said they were totally opposed.
The poll also found bipartisan support, with 74% support among Republican voters and 81% among Democrats.
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