LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – As the Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries surge once again with no winners and Nevadans make the trip to border gas stations for tickets, FOX5 looks at the next steps necessary to make a lottery legal.
A lottery is outlawed in the Nevada constitution. Below are the steps to change it:
First Step: Legislative Passage
In 2023, Nevada lawmakers successfully passed AJR5 through both chambers. Assemblyman CH Miller pushed the bill and an effort to fund youth mental health.
Second Step: Second Legislative Passage
In 2025, the Nevada Legislature would need to successfully pass the same bill. Assemblyman Miller, according to a spokesperson for Assembly Democrats, is not seeking re-election for the seat. The bill would need a sponsor and someone to take the helm. Assemblywoman Danielle Monroe-Moreno was also a co-sponsor of AJR5. FOX5 emailed Monroe-Moreno if she would seek to be the sponsor for the legislation’s second appearance.
Another unknown factor could change the trajectory of the legislation: the 2024 election, when all 42 Assembly seats are up for election.
FOX5 reached out to Democratic Assembly leaders to see if the item would be a legislative priority.
UNLV Professor Rebecca Gill explains why two legislative votes are necessary.
“The intent of the Constitution is to make it hard to change the constitution. It’s not that hard maybe to vote in a particular group of legislators who want to do something really wacky. To have that happen twice in a row is a little bit different,” Gill said.
Third Step: Voters decide on the ballot
If the legislature passes the bill in 2025, a constitutional change would head to the ballot in 2026.
Gill explains that both the Legislature and voters can initiate constitutional change, but the additional steps are determined as such:
If a legislature initiates such a change, the body must act twice and the voters act once to implement a change. If the measure is voter-initiated, two ballot votes must occur, then followed by a vote by the Legislature.
Fourth Step: Lawmakers create a lottery and regulation
After the constitution is changed, a lottery is allowed. The work has just begun: starting in the 2027 Legislature, lawmakers would have to take up the issue and create a bill for a lottery and regulation.
The overall message for Nevada voters? Every election matters, even when the Legislature is not in session.
“If the legislature that we have now is radically different from the legislature that we are about to elect, they could just end the process,” Gill said.
“Our Senators in Washington or the President, these are obviously really important elected positions, but so is the Legislature. Most of the laws that have the biggest impact on our lives as Nevadans are coming from the legislature,” Gill said.
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