California Lottery: California legislature could expand lotteryDespite fears California is becoming the world's gambling capital, the state lottery Friday broadened its proposed overhaul to include Nevada-style games banned by the 1984 lottery initiative.
The lottery -- which is finding increased competition with Indian casinos -- amended its already controversial reorganization plan to add games including roulette, dice, baccarat, blackjack, Lucky 7s, draw poker and slot machines.
The amendment fueled the controversy surrounding the legislation, which already proposes the first major overhaul of the two-decade-old, state-run lottery. The measure would boost prizes and slice struggling schools' share of revenue, in hopes of soon fostering lotto mania that would then increase education's take.
Officials say the lottery initiative that became part of the state constitution would allow the Legislature and governor to make the changes without a vote of Californians. A clause in the original ballot measure permits alterations if they advance the lottery's goal of making money for schools, colleges and universities.
The reorganization "could be worth literally hundreds of millions of dollars more to education," said Bob Vincent, a spokesman for East Coast-based GTECH, a lottery supplier and supporter of the lottery overhaul bill.
Nevada-style gambling themes were banned by the original engineers of the lottery initiative out of fear that voters would reject the measure otherwise.
Anti-gambling groups said the new amendment only worsens a reorganization proposal that would fuel an already frightening escalation of gambling in the nation's most populous state.
"The lottery act opened the gaming door in this state in the first place and this would further expand gambling," said Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up For California.
"You're adding items on a menu. The more gambling there is, the greater opportunity there is for problems of compulsive gamblers to increase in California," she said.
The lottery initiative currently requires that at least 34 percent of the lottery's total revenue from its six different types of games must go to education. It also says that half of the lottery's revenue must be returned to players as prizes and that up to 16 percent can be used for administration of the games.
Under the overhaul measure, being carried by Assemblyman George Plescia, R-San Diego, the prize percentage would climb to no more than 62 percent and schools' share would drop to at least 25 percent, leaving the remaining 13 percent for administration.
