Typically, when a state looks at legalizing a new form of gambling, it’s to address some sort of budget deficit. Alaska is no different, what with the recent introduction of a bill that would legalize slot machines on state ferry system vessels in order to wipe out the government agency’s ongoing operating deficit.

If Rep. Jesse Sumner’s House Bill 197 finds its way into law, it would legalize slots on state ferries with an interesting wrinkle that mimics what’s currently allowed on cruise ships: The slots could only be played once a boat is at least three miles offshore.

As the Alaska Beacon noted, most of Alaska’s ferry routes never make it that far offshore, which would significantly eat into the legislation’s tax revenue potential. Still, a key House aide estimated that the effort would conservatively raise a a minimum of $20 million per year, which would easily wipe out the ferry system’s deficit.

Sumner is also touting job creation and benefits to state tourism as reasons to support his legislation.

Political, technological challenges ahead

Currently, the only legal types of gaming in Alaska are pull tabs, raffles, bingo, and, according to Sumner’s bill summary, “certain dog-mushing activities.”

The pull-tab industry is especially formidable. Alaska’s pull-tab parlors directly benefit charities and Indian tribes, and lobbyists have helped squash attempts to expand gaming in years past.

Additionally, the ferry system’s marine director, Craig Tornga, cautioned that the state’s vessels, many of which were constructed in the 1960s, may not have the electrical capacity to handle banks of slot machines.

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