State Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, learned last session that one way to make people across the political spectrum anxious is to start messing with their lottery tickets. But he’s taking another shot at it this year.

Heading into his second session, Robinson filed a bill that will, among other things, require a warning label on tickets and marketing that says “Play Responsibly” and takes up five percent of the surface space.

“If Florida is going to have state-sanctioned gambling, which is what the Lottery is, then it is reasonable to have guideposts and restrictions,” said Robinson. Last year, Robinson passed a lottery bill in the House with relative ease, despite looking for a much longer label warning gambling could lead to addiction and compulsive behavior.  To get the bill through the Senate, that label was shorted to say either “Warning: Lottery Games may be addictive” or simply “Play Responsibly.”

Still, when state estimators calculated the bill would reduce education deposits by as much as $235 million, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the legislation.

This year, Robinson hopes the more moderate label, which requires a “Play Responsibly” message already used abundantly in Florida Lottery marketing, he hopes to see to get the bill across the Governor’s desk.

He’s also got other provisions in the legislation as filed. He wants to prohibit online sales of lottery tickets. And he wants to outlaw the Florida Lottery from ever selling tickets based on the outcome of sporting events, something that could effectively turn the state agency into a bookie.

“I’m not trying to prevent anyone from going to the convenient store to buy scratch-offs of pick numbers and go back to their car,” Robinson said. “This is to prevent the expansion of gambling, whether through smart devices or sports gambling. I just want it crystal clear in the statute what the guideposts are for the Lottery.”