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S.C. Lottery Director Opposes Sales Tax PlanNews Story
Lottery director says Sanfords plan would reduce funds for educationGov. Mark Sanfords plan to charge sales tax on lottery tickets could cost South Carolina millions in lost education dollars, members of the S.C. lottery commission were told Tuesday.Lottery director Ernie Passailaigue said Sanfords plan to apply the 5 percent sales tax to lottery tickets could cost the state anywhere from $36 million to $154 million in education funding.Sanford wants to use the sales tax on lottery tickets, as w
Dec 3, 2003, 5:22 am - Lottery News

Will Mega Millions be the ticket for Texas?News Story
Multistate game debuts this week with long odds, mixed predictionsTexas' plunge into the multistate lottery market this week with its promise of mega-jackpots and new revenues for the state is a bit of a gamble, supporters and critics agree.Tickets for the Mega Millions game go on sale Wednesday (December 3, 2003), followed by one of the twice-weekly drawings two days later (Friday, December 5, 2003). Texas is the 11th state to join the game.Yet-to-be answered questions: Will players be turned
Nov 29, 2003, 9:29 pm - Lottery News

Kentucky Lottery Drops Keno PlanNews Story
The Kentucky Lottery Corp. has shelved its plan to start fast-paced keno gambling after the game was criticized by Gov.-elect Ernie Fletcher, lottery President Arch Gleason said yesterday.Gleason told legislators that he and lottery board Chairman Bill Covington agreed that implementing the game wasn't feasible after Fletcher issued a strongly worded statement on Friday opposing its introduction. It's pretty clear to me there's not the public policy support for us doing the game, Gleason told r
Nov 25, 2003, 4:27 am - Lottery News

Patton proposes Keno to raise funds for scholarshipsNews Story
Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton has urged the state lottery to launch a Keno game to raise more money for college scholarships, and lottery officials will discuss the proposal tomorrow.Patton made the suggestion in a Tuesday letter that was released by his office yesterday. The letter went to Bill Covington, the board chairman at the Kentucky Lottery Corp.Patton noted in the letter that a recent legislative study found that lottery revenue in coming years won't be enough to fully fund the state's meri
Nov 13, 2003, 5:07 am - Lottery News

Opinion: Don't be fooled, lottery is not helping educationNews Story
One drawback to sticking around for a while and paying attention is that you remember old promises made to the public.Why is that such a drawback? Because it upsets the stomach. It is so much easier to believe blissfully in whatever is being said at the moment.The topic at hand is the Florida Lottery. Twice recently, I found myself actually yelling at my television because of the lottery's latest commercials.The narrator brags about how much money the lottery has raised for education. Among the
Nov 3, 2003, 6:33 am - Lottery News

New Michigan lottery games to start Monday, but controversy arisesNews Story
A group on Thursday said it is opposing Monday's kickoff of two new Michigan lottery games because the games might let Indian casinos stop paying the state a share of their profits.The group -- Worried Residents Opposing Neighborhood Gaming, or W.R.O.N.G. -- said the state could lose $30 million to $40 million that Indian casinos contribute each year to the state's Strategic Fund, which encourages economic development.It says the new games, Club Keno and Pull Tabs, would let the tribes off the h
Oct 24, 2003, 4:01 am - Lottery News

N.C. Lottery debate: You can bet both sides will be passionateNews Story
Aside from what it might cost to put together, or to pay out prizes, or what it's social costs might be, there is much more interesting question right now: How much would it cost North Carolinians to debate a state lottery?The question of whether this state ought to have a lottery is sleeping right now. And it will be months before even the prospect of waking it will come. Like a lot of political trends in North Carolina, it certainly won't be resolved this year, or next, but the state draws clo
Oct 13, 2003, 3:48 am - Lottery News

Vermont Man Claims "Power" Bug in Vermont Lottery Powerball PromotionNews Story
Anyone looking to guess the correct number of jelly beans in a jar would do well to ask the opinion of Michael Patterson of Williamstown, Vermont. Mr. Patterson was declared the winner of a red, 2003 Volkswagen Beetle by the Vermont lottery when he guessed that the POWER BUG contained a total of 24,260 ping-pong balls. The correct number, as certified by the Vermont Lottery auditors, was 24,264 -- only four more than Mr. Patterson's solitary entry.The Vermont Lottery awarded the car as the g
Oct 10, 2003, 4:02 pm - Lottery News

Audit sought for Colorado lottery-fund useNews Story
The director of a state agency that doles out $40 million a year in Colorado Lottery funds has asked for an audit on how the money has been spent.In addition, Mike Beasely, the director of the Department of Local Affairs, has asked a legislative committee to look again at the issue of whether the state should have more oversight over the Conservation Trust Fund.The department distributes lottery proceeds from the fund to local governments and recreation districts, which then determine who gets t
Oct 10, 2003, 9:50 am - Lottery News

Is Georgia too much on their minds?News Story
Tennessee's new lottery board appears to be rushing headlong into a partnership with Georgia, and someone needs to slow the train down so the public can have a better view of where it is headed.The plunge to do business with Georgia has raised more questions than members of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. have answered. The first and foremost is the legality of such a contract.That question is expected to have an answer from Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers in a formal legal opinion
Sep 3, 2003, 3:54 am - Lottery News