Pull-tab possibility for Missouri truck stops

In Missouri and a proposal is reportedly quietly making its way through the legislative process that would permit the state’s lottery to install and run a variety of pull-tab machines within local truck stops.

According to a Wednesday report from the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, the measure is contained within a revised $30 million spending plan that has been conceived to help ‘The Show-Me State’ cope with the economic downturn caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Stipulated ceiling:

The newspaper reported that pull-tab machines are currently only allowed at private fraternal organizations in Missouri and present paying punters with tickets featuring a series of paper tabs that they must peel back so as to reveal a possible prize. But the proposed legislation purportedly calls for the Missouri Lottery to be allowed to run up to 100 such machines at truck stops statewide while limiting individual venues to a maximum of three units.

Larger consideration:

The St Louis Post-Dispatch also reported that the pull-tab proposition has appeared just as local legislators have temporarily sidelined a number of expanded gambling schemes and postponed debate over whether the jurisdiction of some 6.1 million residents should ban popular slot-like machines that have become a regular fixture within its gas stations and road-side restaurants.

Concerted criticism:

The newspaper moreover reported that the prospect of bringing pull-tab machines to truck stops in the Midwestern state has engendered fierce opposition from a number of Republican lawmakers including Missouri State Senator David Sater, who is said to have called the plan ‘a direct offense to our low-income people who will divert their money to things like this’. Fellow conservative legislator Eric Burlison purportedly described the move as ‘disgusting’ while Jefferson City grandee Ed Emery is alleged to have painted the measure as ‘a clear example of an expansion of gaming.’