Indiana representatives are again trying to legalize online lottery in the Hoosier State, but several legislators expressed disappointment that this year’s proposal does not also include authorizing online casino gaming.
House Public Policy Committee members discussed HB 1078 on Tuesday, Chair Ethan Manning’s legislation that would allow the state lottery commission to offer online draw and eInstant games. Under similar language proposed last year in the committee, iLottery’s minimum age would be 18, digital lottery couriers would be prohibited and the bill would also mandate an online lottery voluntary exclusion program.
On Jan. 6, members ultimately voted 9-3 in favor of moving the bill to the House floor.
‘A smaller bite of the apple’
The 2026 version of the iLottery bill has several changes from the 2025 version, including the removal of a proposed fund that would have distributed 2% of iLottery revenue among participating retailers. But the biggest overhaul is that the bill no longer includes the language to legalize both online lottery and online casino gaming in one swoop that passed the committee last year.
Manning acknowledged that the measure was removed for 2026, despite some committee members’ strong support for it, in order to try to expedite iLottery’s legalization in a short year. Indiana’s session ends in mid-March.
“While most of us in this room support that [dual] concept, we’ve tried that before and it didn’t work, so we’re trying something different to take a smaller bite at the apple,” the chair and sponsor said at the Jan. 6 hearing.
Should iLottery and online casino go hand-in-hand?
Committee chair and bill sponsor Manning and fellow representatives Steve Bartels and Cory Criswell all agreed with the idea of putting online casino language back into the bill. Casino Association of Indiana also urged the legislators to reconsider, noting that Indiana’s commercial casinos want the opportunity to take gaming online.
Manning and Bell both noted that, although they would rather the two verticals be legalized concurrently, if iLottery does get legalized on its own in the coming weeks, it could clear the pathway for online casino legalization down the road if, as Manning put it, “we find the sky isn’t falling” with online lottery in place.
Reps. Bartels and Criswell both voted no on the bill, because of their belief that removing iCasino was a mistake.
“I strongly feel that iGaming and iLottery should be hand in hand,” said Criswell. He also called for a mandatory competitive bidding process to be included. Hoosier Lottery Director of External Affairs Jared Bond noted that while Brightstar Lottery (formerly IGT) runs the retail lottery, there is nothing legally preventing the lottery commission from selecting another operator for an online lottery.
Slot-style iLottery games prohibited… sort of
On the topic of online casino gaming, the language of HB 1078 includes a specific provision to clarify that digital lottery games that simulate “the play of slot machines using visualizations of the essential features of a gambling game played on a slot machine” would not be allowed if iLottery were to be legalized on these terms.
“It modernizes how the lottery products are sold, not necessarily what products are sold,” said Bond. “There’s prohibitions on that as well, not exactly what the games would look like but certainly what they can’t look like, as far as mimicking certain casino-style games.”
“We’re saying, iLottery e-instants can’t look like casino-style games,” added Manning.
However, the clause in the bill preventing such games has a disclaimer that notes that the lottery commission ultimately would have the power to authorize eInstants, and Bond said that the commission would hold the right to determine whether certain games are or are not allowed. Most states where eInstants are legal offer games that bear a strong resemblance to slot games.
