MONTPELIER, Vt. – Lawmakers appear to be moving quickly toward expanding the state lottery so it can offer a multistate game such as Powerball as early as this summer.

The House Ways and Means Committee took testimony Tuesday, and Chairman Richard Marron, R-Stowe, said the language that would authorize a lottery expansion might be included in the so-called budget adjustment bill.

That’s the annual legislation that redirects state spending midway through the year, which typically passes and is signed into law early in the year.

Discussion about the lottery around the Statehouse this year is much different from recent legislative sessions. It’s no longer a question of whether the state will join a multistate game, it’s more about when and which one.

“Historically, when states tried to put lotteries in place there was a moral, Protestant ethic that this was not good,” Marron said. “I don’t think that’s an issue anymore. The fact is we are gambling.”

One of the goals of adding a multistate game to the existing complement of games is to stem the decline in the lottery over the past several years.

Sales have declined for several years and that’s likely to continue if the state doesn’t update its array of games to give people a shot at the multimillion-dollar jackpots that are standard with Powerball and Mega Millions, formerly known as the Big Game.

“If we don’t go with a multijurisdictional game, I don’t see growth, I see a decline,” said Vermont Lottery Commission Executive Director Alan Yandow.

Up until now, there was nearly no possibility of Vermont joining one of the two leading multistate games because former Gov. Howard Dean consistently said he would veto such a bill.

But Gov. James Douglas has said he’d support a new game and would dedicate the estimated $3.2 million that it would add to state coffers to the state education fund.

Lottery supporters now are working hard to take advantage of the new situation. They say that Vermont not only is losing lottery sales, but also the other incidentals that people frequently buy when they stop at a store for a ticket.

“I know they’re buying their sandwiches and meals and beers,” said Bill McDonald, who owns Waits River General Store, 13 miles from the state line with New Hampshire, where Powerball is offered. “If they plan far enough ahead, they get their gas in New Hampshire. … People who want to play Powerball will go to great lengths whether they’re a mile or 50 miles [from New Hampshire].”

Vermont is one of only five states that have lottery games but are not involved in one of the big jackpot multistate versions. Vermont offers a variety of games, including the Tri-State Megabucks with Maine and New Hampshire, smaller jackpot games such as Cash Lotto, and instant tickets.

Tri-State Megabucks is the biggest game but its payoffs pale in comparison to Powerball or Mega Millions. Megabucks’ jackpot now is $1.4 million. Mega Millions’ is $66 million and Powerball’s is $86 million.

The odds of winning are much different. Megabucks players have one chance in 5.2 million of winning a jackpot and one chance in 21 of winning some cash prize. Powerball players have one chance in 120.5 million at the jackpot and one in 36 at some prize.

Among New England states, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut offer Powerball; Massachusetts offers Mega Millions; and Maine offers no multistate game besides Tri-State Megabucks. Neighboring New York offers Mega Millions.