Yesterday we touched on the illegal bookie trade,  which is thriving across the US as an unintended consequence of Bill Frist’s UIEGA legislation, which was designed to limit banks interaction with offshore betting sites.  Similar legislation had always failed before, so unable to pass the legislation on merit, then Senate Majority Leader Frist attached it as a last minute rider to the gargantuan Safe Port Act in the fall of 2006.

Now the effects of that legislation have have thrown a monkey wrench into, of all things, the New Hampshire State Lottery.   The Granite State (with the best state motto: “Live Free or Die”) can’t process renewals for lottery buyers who purchase season tickets via a credit card.  They also are unable to process credit card lottery transactions at their state-owned liquor stores.

According to the Manchester Union Leader, Rick Wisler, the Executive Director of the New Hampshire State Lottery, this is a seven-figure problem. Wisler tells the Manchester Union Leader, “it can amount to a million dollars a year or more to the Lottery if credit cards are not allowed.” 

New Hampshire Lottery profits benefit public education.  Ironically, while nanny staters often look to restrict gambling “for the children”, it is the schoolkids of  New Hampshire that are being denied funding as yet another unintended consequence of UIEGA.