JACKSON, Miss. — Trips to neighboring states to observe their lottery operations have shed light on the types of decisions that must be made should Mississippi opt to enact a lottery, two Northeast Mississippi legislators recently said.
Reps. Mac Huddleston, R-Pontotoc, and Nick Bain, D-Corinth, made trips to Little Rock last week as members of a task force created by House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, to study the issues surrounding the lottery. Other members of the committee made a similar trip to Baton Rouge to garner information.
"They were very cooperative," Huddleston said of the lottery officials in Arkansas. "I don't feel like there was any border jealously there."
Mississippi is one of six states in the nation that does not have a lottery. Currently, multiple state officials, such as Gov. Phil Bryant, argue that many Mississippians are spending money on lottery tickets in the neighboring states of Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. If Mississippi develops a lottery, it could cost those states revenue.
Both Bain and Huddleston said they were surprised at the overhead involved with the Arkansas lottery. Bain said only about 20 percent of the lottery revenue goes toward scholarships and the remainder goes to support the operation of the lottery, ranging from advertising to paying personnel to purchasing lottery tickets.
Bain said Louisiana has "a mandate" that limits the percentage of the lottery revenue that can be spent on the operation of the lottery. But Arkansas has no such mandate.
"I think it would be better" to have a mandate, Huddleston said. "But I don't know. I was not even familiar with a mandate until the past 24 hours."
Bain said officials in Arkansas could not say whether students receiving the scholarships from the Arkansas Education Lottery are staying in the state to work.
"They could not say whether it has helped with economic development," Bain said. "But they do not feel it has increased the dependence on entitlement programs. And I don't believe it would. I don't think the lottery is like casinos in that regard."
While the bulk of the profits from lotteries in Louisiana and Arkansas are directed to education endeavors, Bryant at first advocated that the money from a proposed Mississippi lottery be diverted to the general fund to be divvied up by the Legislature like other state tax collections. Later he suggested that lottery revenue might be a source of money to address road and bridge needs.
According to information compiled for the task force, in fiscal year 2016 after prizes and expenses were paid, the lottery generated:
- $85.2 million for Arkansas
- $177.9 million for Louisiana
- $394 million for Tennessee
It has been estimated that Mississippi's revenue from a lottery would be comparable to that of Arkansas, though, that is the type of information the study committee will be trying to determine in the coming months. Mississippi has a total state-support budget of about $6 billion.
The lottery task force is expected to meet again in the coming weeks. Huddleston said before that meeting some members of the task force might visit Tennessee to garner information from that state. The other state bordering Mississippi, Alabama, also does not have a lottery.
House Gaming Chair Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, who chairs the lottery task force, said the report his group submits to the House for the 2018 session will not make a statement on whether the state should adopt a lottery, but will instead provide information to members.
I must say, I am mystified by the way Mississippi is going about starting a lottery (or not).
Having a panel investigate neighboring states is a great idea, but staffing the panel with legislators who have absolutely no knowledge of lotteries and how they work is baffling.
One would think they would take the time to do a little research on their own before traveling to other states. You know, so they could maybe ask some informed questions.
Probably the most frightening quote in this story (for me) is:
"I think it would be better" to have a mandate, Huddleston said. "But I don't know. I was not even familiar with a mandate until the past 24 hours."
Not only is a key member of the panel clueless about the most basic of government lottery frameworks, but apparently he has already formed an opinion on the matter within 24 hours of first learning about it.
Did Huddleston think to perhaps take the time to learn about states that have established a mandate, only to struggle to get rid of it in later years? (For example, New Mexico, which just last month forecast that lottery-funded college scholarships would be cut this year due to mandates hurting the ability for the lottery to grow.) Apparently not. Because after all he did visit with a single lottery — and heard about the concept of a mandate for the first time — before immediately jumping to his conclusion.
It would be great to give the people of Mississippi the opportunity to create their own state lottery, but it's going to frustrate them to no end if it is created by lawmakers who refuse to do what it takes to make it successful.
After I read the article my thought was those folks were really clueless. Also, I'm surprised they didn't visit states that have very successful lotteries such as Texas, and New York.
I agree with Todd and rcbbuckeye. I hope that they are reading Lottery Post www.lotterypost.com and www.usamega.com
l for one am not in the least surprised by these politicians actions. They want to give the appearance of knowing what they doing. Case in point: A dentist who was allowed, was sued for a bad breast reduction in Seattle a few years ago.
The question could be asked, why are dental surgeons allowed to perform breast reduction surgery considering that it is not their field of expertise, and the answer is/was " it's not against the law." These politicians who know nothing about the lottery, and come up with weird statements, are cut from the same cloth.
Maybe they should have talked to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.
Where the money goes
In FY2016 (July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016), Maryland Lottery and Gaming contributed an all-time record of more than $1.079 billion to the State of Maryland to support good causes such as the Maryland Education Trust Fund; public health and safety; small-, minority- and women-owned businesses; horse racing; veterans’ organizations; and more. Lottery ticket sales generated $569.8 million for the State, while casino revenues contributed $510 million. The $1.079 billion total represents a 6.7 % increase from the previous record of $1.012 billion set in FY2015.
Traditional Lottery
Lottery ticket sales reached an all-time high of $1.908 billion, surpassing the previous record of $1.795 billion in FY2012 by 6.3 %.
The Lottery’s network of 4,539 retailers earned an all-time high of $141.2 million from sales commissions, a $12.6 million (9.8 %) increase from the previous record of $128.6 million set in FY2015. Average commission per retailer increased 9.7 % to $31,099.
Lottery players won $1.135 billion in prizes, a 6.5 % increase from the previous record of $1.066 billion in FY2012, and an 8.2 % increase year-over-year. The Lottery paid an average of $3.1 million a day in prizes during FY2016.
Casino Gaming
The growth of the state’s casino gaming industry continued during FY2016, which marked the first time that five casinos were operating in Maryland for a full fiscal year. Gross gaming revenue totaled $1.144 billion, beating last year’s figure by $105 million (10.2 %).
Casino revenue contributed $402.5 million to the Maryland Education Trust Fund (ETF), an increase of $14.7 million (3.8 %) from FY2015. The ETF supports early childhood education, public elementary and secondary education, public school construction and capital improvement projects. Since the State’s first casino opened in 2010, more than $1.5 billion has gone to the ETF.
More than 5,200 people worked at Maryland’s five casinos during FY2016, including more than 4,200 full-time employees.
Casino revenue numbers are posted monthly on gaming.mdlottery.com.
For a complete fiscal year 2016 year-end review, click here.
Perhaps you could do these politicians a favor G, by forwarding this information over to Huddleston & Co.You just might turn out to be a local hero.
It's a copy and paste from the Maryland Lottery website.