IDAHO LOTTERY
Skip the cash — lottery considers taking debit cards at machines
THE AGENCY: Idaho Lottery
THE ISSUE: Idahoans, like consumers around the country, are using less cash and more electronic payments to buy goods. The Idaho Lottery, citing a Federal Reserve report, says 55 percent of all consumer purchases are done electronically, up from 43 percent in 1999.
WHAT’S PROPOSED: Allowing lottery-ticket purchases at 350 player-activated terminals already found in grocery stores, bowling alleys and places where there isn’t a clerk who can sell lottery tickets from behind the counter. Buyers would insert PIN-protected debit cards.
The machines now accept cash only. The average lottery sale is just over $3. The machines allow someone to purchase up to $100 in lottery tickets using cash, but proposed rules put a $50 limit on use of a debit card to encourage responsible playing, said Jeff Anderson, the lottery’s executive director.
The lottery proposes to charge a 50-cent fee to use a debit card in the machines to cover the cost of swipe fees that are charged to sellers on card purchases. The fee would be re-examined each year to see if it covers the costs, then raised or lowered accordingly. The machines would not accept credit cards.
Customers who purchase lottery tickets at a store counter can use credit cards, debit cards or other forms of payment that merchants accept. The swipe fees are paid by the merchants.
HOW YOU CAN BE HEARD: Write to Jeff Anderson, Executive Director, Idaho State Lottery, 1199 Shoreline Lane, Suite 100, P. O. Box 6537, Boise, Idaho 83707-6537, or e-mail janderson@lottery.idaho.gov. Deadline is Friday, Aug. 10.
TO LEARN MORE: Go to the Aug. 1 Idaho Administrative Bulletin at http://bit.ly/JPmizN
FOODS
Idaho honey producers seek rules on labeling
THE AGENCY: Idaho State Department of Agriculture
THE ISSUE Honey producers, worried about lax labeling that can be used on honey and honey products, won support from the Idaho Legislature last session for a law that clarifies what must be on labels for honey products. The Idaho Department of Agriculture is proposing rules to put the law into effect. Idaho is one of about 30 states that has so far tried to clarify labeling of honey products since Florida adopted labeling rules in 2009.
WHAT’S PROPOSED: Rules would require distributors of honey produced in Idaho or sold from companies outside Idaho to assure consumers what they are buying. The Idaho Honey Industry Association says some honey products have high fructose corn syrup or rice syrup added, but there is no requirement that those additives be on the label. The association is seeking rules that would require honey to not include those additives. The rules may also address concerns about what constitutes raw honey, which can be filtered to remove some particles from the hives, such as some bee parts. But the honey would not be pasteurized or heated about 118 degrees.
The label rules have yet to be developed.
HOW YOU CAN BE HEARD: A meeting to begin looking at possible rules will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9 at the Idaho Department of Agriculture, 2270 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise. Comments must be received by Wednesday, Aug. 15. E-mail comments to Mike.Cooper@agri.idaho.gov, or via mail to: Mike Cooper, Idaho State Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 790, Boise, ID 83701.
TO LEARN MORE: Visit www.agri.idaho.gov.
