By Todd Northrop
ROSEVILLE, Minn. — After being shut down for nearly three weeks due to a state government budget impasse, the Minnesota Lottery will begin selling lottery tickets again, starting Thursday, July 21.
The resumption of ticket sales follows a special legislative session that put an end to the government shut down. The state's Democrat governor relented, allowing the state budget to follow the Republican-majority state legislature's plan.
The lottery suspended operations on July 1. Beginning at 6:00 am Thursday, the Lottery is expected to restore its systems and begin selling and redeeming winning tickets at retailers throughout the state.
"We couldn't be happier about the end of the shutdown, and we're eager to welcome back our dedicated employees, work with our retail partners and continue generating revenue that helps preserve, restore and enhance our state's natural resources," said Dale McDonnell, Assistant Director at the Minnesota State Lottery. "We want to thank everyone for their patience over the last few weeks and invite our players to get back to the fun of our games with our exciting new promotions and offers which the Lottery will begin in early August."
During the shutdown, the lottery continued to draw winning numbers, even though no tickets were sold for the drawings.
good for you, i'm thinking this will amplfiy the attention on next big winner in minny.
Thanks hay -
And yeah, it pry will amp it up.
But I've learned a thing or 2 @ LP, so I'm gonna remain anonymous!
anonymous, hmm... famous poet ? aye?
there once was a girl from nantuket.....oh wait,thats filthy limericks.....nevermind .
They should dock the governor's pay for the rest of his term and put it in the general fund as a slight recompense for his little ego trip that accomplished nothing but putting the state in deeper debt than it was before. What a schmuck.
He oughta be recalled.
amen to that.
Retailers in Iowa & Wisconsin are sad.
yep, can think of a few more.
Shouldn't the lottery fund itself so that it would not be shut down by the government for funding?
Idiot Governor!
Why did the Minnesota lottery shut down for about 20 days?
Minnesota needs to get rid of their Governor ............... meanwhile the Powerball Grows !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The weather is red hot in Pennsylvania .................. just the right time for a Powerball win !
I'm surprised ppl don't go on strike or roll out with riots when it got shut down. Glad to see the lottery back in action.
they knew it was a temp. gain.
except for the residents of mn. this was the most uninteresting story posted here on lottery news in a coons age. anyone who wants to gamble bad enough will find a way. all they had to do was call someone out of state to play their lottery even if they had to send them the money up front. or they could (and multitudes did) drive to the border themselves. big deal...
i was interested,i have family and freinds in minny.
I hope everyone who played 3 digit in Minnesota caught the 555,
no kidding first day back in business produces a trip ?
why would you even be conscious of your fiends(friends) or relatives lottery play. did you offer to play their favorite numbers in your state for them or buy them mega millions or powerballs (it doesn't matter where you buy those). i just fail to see why this story got so much attention. everyones ragging on the governor, like it was his fault they couldn't gamble. look at the money that was saved by the populace of that state. i really feel bad for the people in hibbing who couldn't get their numbers in (none were drawn i believe anyway). to fill their time they could continue strip mining their town or make a contribution to the minnesota strip.
i think you're talking to me. not even sure if they play lottery,just the same they live there .
yes, you haymaker and stop with that a team quote. what does it mean anyway?
Bout time Minnesota..... go win that money CashWinner$.....
the quote will remain til. i get tired of it. it was the closing line of a favorite tv show, and it means what it says. anyway thanks for the idea.
i'm tired of you and your 300 posts in 1 month. that A-team quote from a horrible tv show from the 70's makes no sense. can it.
Louise, we need to get rid of the bad governors, not the good ones.
Dayton from MN - bad.
Christie from NJ - good.
Walker from WS - good.
See how that works?
I'll bet you didn't know that half of the jobs created in this country since May were created in Wisconsin, did you, Louise?
Do you know why?
Because they elected a good governor (Walker) who wasn't afraid to tell the freeloaders that the gravy train was over and that they have no right to never-ending fabulous wealth and privilege just because they pay union dues.
I'm glad we got that straightened out, Louise.
It's not good to have people misunderstanding issues like these. Print out this post and put it on your refrigerator.
Then whoever told you that Christie was bad - show him this post and smack him upside the head.
Have a nice day Louise and don't drink so much this early in the day from now on.
Thank you So much Dallas!!
I'm workin' on it - lol.....
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$