Oklahoma lottery hopefuls waited in the dark for stores to open
Posted: 10/13/2005 11:33:00 AM
Gas station attendants in Ardmore say Oklahomans were lining up outside convenience stores in their pajamas.
It was all an effort to get lottery tickets when they first went on sale at five this morning.
KTEN’s Jocelyn Lockwood tells us if the lottery is going to a boom or bust for education.
Judging from the lines at the gas station I was at today, I’d say it’s going to be a boom.
But, not as many stores are selling the tickets as the lotto commission would like, and it may mean not as much money will go to schools as officials thought.
The government promises at least 30 percent of the revenue will go back to education in the first two years and then 35 percent every year thereafter.
But, the exact dollar amount and when the schools can expect to
reap the benefit are still up in the air.
“It’s already been projected that one of the problems is people aren’t lining up to buy the tickets, your going to have an early rush, but they needed 3,000 outlets in Oklahoma to reach the projected revenue, and at this point they’ve only got 1,300 outlets across the state that have signed up to sell, so the reception so far has not been good,” said State Representative Greg Piatt.
Lotto officials say they are estimating that $65 million will go to schools.
But, Piatt says the lotto will simply take money away from families who need it.
He says what we are seeing today may just be the result of an early rush.
Source: KTEN
