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Georgia group fights to prevent lottery winners from claiming anonymouslyNews Story
An open-government advocacy group has denounced a bipartisan proposal being considered by the Georgia Senate that would allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. The Georgia First Amendment Foundation said in a statement that the proposed legislation raised transparency concerns. Clearly, letting a government agency hand out millions of dollars to private citizens with no public record is a bad idea, the group's statement said. Democratic Sen. Steve Henson of Stone Mountain, who sponsored
Jan 29, 2018, 8:30 pm - Lottery News

Wyoming would tap lottery money under proposed billNews Story
A legislative panel has endorsed a proposal that would allow the state of Wyoming to grab some of the statewide lottery earnings. The Legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee voted 9-3 Thursday in Cheyenne to sponsor a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would allow the state to take 5 percent of the gross proceeds earned by the Wyoming Lottery. State coffers would be enriched by about $1 million a year. WyoLotto started selling tickets in 2014 after the Legislature author
Jan 19, 2018, 3:01 pm - Lottery News

Mississippi lawmakers could debate creation of a lotteryNews Story
Mississippi residents for years have been crossing into Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee to buy lottery tickets. In 2018, lawmakers could debate whether Mississippi will join the large majority of states that offer games of chance. Supporters say money being spent on lottery tickets elsewhere could, instead, be spent in Mississippi, creating revenue to help pay for highways, schools or other state government services. If that money is going to go to educate children and it's going to
Dec 27, 2017, 11:42 am - Lottery News

Will NC Lottery players move online and hurt retail stores?News Story
The N.C. Retail Merchants Association wants legislators to put the brakes on a proposal to offer online instant lottery games, arguing the move could harm stores that sell lottery tickets. The N.C. Education Lottery Commission has the proposal for online instant games on its Tuesday agenda; lottery spokesman Van Denton said the commission will vote on whether to ask vendors to submit proposals for how they'd provide the online games. The commission's Revenue Generating Committee, led by forme
Dec 4, 2017, 8:51 am - Lottery News

Mississippi lottery committee plans final meetingNews Story
What is expected to be the final meeting of House Speaker Philip Gunn's lottery study committee is scheduled for Nov. 16 at the Mississippi Capitol. Gunn formed the study committee in April in response to efforts in the House to pass lottery legislation. After the November meeting, the plan is for legislative staff to compile the information garnered by the nine-member committee into a report to be presented to the Mississippi House before the 2018 session starts in January. The study comm
Oct 29, 2017, 9:26 am - Lottery News

Details of new Illinois Lottery manager deal kept secretNews Story
As the Illinois Lottery edges closer to finalizing a massive deal with a new private manager, the state and the firm have chosen to keep many of the details secret despite past pledges of transparency. The deal includes a tiered incentive system in which the new firm, Camelot Illinois, would be paid bonuses for exceeding various profit levels, documents show. But the proposed dollar amounts are not included. That was among the few bits of information in the heavily redacted records the sta
Oct 4, 2017, 9:01 am - Lottery News

Mass. Lottery retailers fight online sales billNews Story
The Massachusetts Lottery says it could stop being successful unless a bill allowing online ticket sales becomes law, while retailers say their future success hinges on the bill not becoming law. Now the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection will weigh the benefits and drawbacks of an online lottery. The Lottery is seeking authority from the Legislature to offer its current products scratch tickets, draw games, Keno and more to customers over the Internet, arguing that the Lottery's survival
Sep 20, 2017, 8:03 am - Lottery News

Mississippi panel studying other state lotteriesNews Story
A special House panel has been looking at other states' experience with lotteries as it works on a study requested by House Speaker Philip Gunn, who opposes a lottery for Mississippi but says he wants the issue thoroughly vetted. Members of the House Lottery Study Working Group comprised of lawmakers, state gaming and other officials held their second of three meetings at the Capitol on Tuesday. The first meeting in May was described as lottery 101, on the history of, laws and facts about lot
Sep 6, 2017, 8:10 am - Lottery News

Mississippi lawmaker forms group to study why lottery would be bad for stateNews Story
Your tax dollars at work Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn said weeks ago that he would form a group to study the pros and cons of starting a state lottery. As the group met for the first time Wednesday, Gunn repeated his opposition to the game of chance. I do not believe a lottery is based on sound economic policy, and it violates a number of conservative, Republican principles, Gunn, a Republican who is also a leader in his local Baptist church, said in a news release. The purpo
May 4, 2017, 8:12 am - Lottery News

Vermont paying $8,000 per month on unused lottery machinesNews Story
Since last June, 25 lottery machines leased by the state of Vermont have gathered cobwebs in storage unplugged and unused at a cost of $8,000 a month. That means the state has paid $72,000 in fees for nothing. And the tab is still mounting. Neither the governor nor legislators were happy to hear about the losing proposition. I don't like that we're wasting money and having these machines sit idly, Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday. His staff learned about the situation in February while workin
Apr 27, 2017, 2:37 pm - Lottery News