Lottery e-mail irks Michigan lawmakers

Oct 18, 2004, 7:58 am (1 comment)

Michigan Lottery

An e-mail from the Michigan Lottery commissioner referencing a future game targeted at young adults with personal computers sparked a controversy this week with some state legislators concerned the state was getting into the Internet gambling business.

The note from Commissioner Gary Peters warned of a possible loss of revenue from the passage of ballot Proposal 1, which would require statewide voter approval for most new forms gambling. Detroit's casinos and some lawmakers seized on a passage in the e-mail that said Proposal 1 could prdvent the state from offering "new styles of games to younger adults who prefer faster paced electronic games" and games "utilizing player interaction with a personal computer."

Two state legislators - State Sen. Samuel Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, and State Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo - e-mailed a harshly worded letter to fellow lawmakers Thursday accusing the Lottery Commission of planning to launch an Internet-based gambling lottery.

"Should we, as legislators, defend Lottery games that introduce gambling into Michigan homes and offices via the Internet?" the pair wrote. "Do you support Lottery games that put gambling onto the keyboards and screens of home computers across Michigan, literally at the fingertips of our children?"

Peters said Thursday he was not suggesting the state lottery venture into Internet gambling as some suggested. He said he was referring to games in which players purchase a game ticket at a lottery outlet and find out if it's a winner or loser by using an Internet connection to the Lottery Bureau. After playing a five-minute game, the computer will tell players the good or bad news. Whether or not players won or lost would be predetermined before the game is played.

Peters conceded he didn't take enough time to explain the computer game in his note and is did some damage control Thursday by e-mailing lawmakers a detailed explanation of how the game works.

"Any new games the Lottery may offer in the future would not in any way, shape or form constitute Internet gambling, nor would the Lottery promote the sale of tickets to minors who are strictly prohibited from participating in Lottery games," Peters wrote.

But not everybody is buying his explanation.

"I have concern about this," said State Sen. Irma Clark-Coleman, D-Detroit. "There has to be some control over how far they go with this gambling thing."

Clark added that the state needs to stop relying so heavily on gambling to prop up the budget. Michigan already has as many or more forms of gambling than any other state, with casinos, horse tracks, keno parlors and other state lottery games

"We're moving in the wrong direction in promoting gambling as a cure-all," she said. "We should never let our children become exposed to any type of gambling, particularly in the home."

Peters said that introducing this particular game is still under consideration. But if Proposal 1 passes Nov. 2, the Lottery Commission would need a vote of all Michigan residents to implement a new lottery game.

In order for the Michigan Lottery to grow, Peters said he has to modernize the type of games offered.

"The future is in electronics, not this scratch-off stuff," Peters said. "This game is like a scratch-off ticket, but you're using your home computer to electronically scratch off the numbers. You're simply finding out if you win."

Peters said that four other states - Iowa, Kansas, New Jersey and Oregon - have such electronic lottery games. Peters said the new games in those states have been well received.

He projected that if the new game was introduced in 2005, it would generate $48 million in new revenue for education.

He said the Lottery Commission, which provides more than $550 million annually for state education, must continually change its games to keep the interest of the public.

"You can't be doing $2 billion in sales without taking advantage of the technology that is out there," Peters said.

He contends it's fundamentally the same as buying scratch-off tickets and taking them home and playing the game at the kitchen table. In either case, he said, the tickets must be purchased at a lottery outlet where an operator is required to prdvent underage individuals from buying tickets.

Roger Martin, a spokesman for Greektown Casino and United We Stand, a group that backs Proposal 1, disagrees.

"You find out if you won after playing a game on the Internet," Martin said. "That's Internet gambling. Just because the money doesn't transfer over the Internet doesn't mean it's not Internet gambling."

Detroit News

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