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Illinois lottery players may lose Powerball and Mega Millions at the end of JuneNews Story
Legislation's refusal to deliver balanced budget threatens to cut off popular multi-state games The association that runs the popular Powerball lottery and Mega Millions games will drop Illinois at the end of June without a budget agreement. Concern over the state of Illinois' fiscal condition prompted that decision by the Multi-State Lottery Association, according to internal Illinois Lottery communications. Illinois Lottery spokesman Jason Schaumburg on Thursday morning confirmed that
Jun 15, 2017, 3:52 pm - Lottery News

New Mexico reduces college scholarships funded by lotteryNews Story
Lottery given minimal flexibility to increase sales College scholarships funded by New Mexico lottery proceeds will cover 60 percent of tuition costs for the next school year down from 90 percent as state education officials announced changes Wednesday aimed at stretching dwindling revenue for the financial aid program. The lottery-based scholarships help pay tuition for about 26,000 students at public universities, four-year colleges and two-year community colleges throughout the state. N
May 31, 2017, 3:58 pm - 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

Oklahoma governor approves increased lottery payoutsNews Story
Gov. Mary Fallin signed legislation Tuesday that could lead to higher Oklahoma Lottery prize amounts and higher revenue to education. Lottery officials believe the law will spur more purchases of instant-win scratcher tickets, which in turn will boost funding for public schools, CareerTech institutions, colleges and universities. House Bill 1837 doesn't affect the multi-state lottery games like Powerball, but people who buy scratch-off tickets should see a change in July. The Oklahoma L
May 3, 2017, 3:34 pm - 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

Pennsylvania eyes leap to internet for casinos, lotteryNews Story
Facing huge deficits, Pennsylvania could become the first state to allow both its casinos and lottery to take its games online in a quest for money from new and younger players. The state government has a slew of fiscal challenges, made worse by sluggish tax collections and one of the nation's oldest average populations. A Republican-controlled Legislature trying to avoid a broad tax increase under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has instead turned over other rocks in search of alternatives. Ther
Apr 24, 2017, 9:15 am - Lottery News

Arkansas lottery players now can buy tickets with debit cardsNews Story
Starting this summer, retailers selling tickets for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery will be authorized to accept payment by debit cards, thanks to a new law that zipped through the Legislature in 23 days with little fanfare. Since the lottery started selling tickets on Sept. 28, 2009, the law allowed only cash to be used in transactions. Now Arkansas will join most other state lotteries by allowing debit-card use. Senate Bill 617 sponsored by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado is now Act 876
Apr 17, 2017, 11:26 am - Lottery News

Bill allowing Oklahoma Lottery to increase prizes heads to the Senate floorNews Story
A bill moving through the Oklahoma statehouse would allow the state's lottery to increase prizes in hopes of generating more dollars for schools and boost the payout to education by about $100 million over the next five years. For years, lottery officials have asked lawmakers to let them plug more dollars into prizes in hopes it would increase participation and add more money to educational coffers. And for years, lawmakers balked. But this year, faced with a huge budget hole, lawmakers
Apr 17, 2017, 11:18 am - Lottery News

Are lawmakers selling the Texas Lottery short?News Story
Scratch-off lottery tickets are big business in Texas. They raise billions for state coffers and are so popular that as many as 95 new scratch-off games are introduced here each year, making up a sizable chunk of overall Texas Lottery sales, officials say. But lottery officials are worried they will have to cut back on the variety of scratch-offs offered and on the advertising that promotes the games now that Texas budget writers are considering cutting as much as $18 million from the agen
Apr 13, 2017, 8:39 am - Lottery News

Proposal to boost N.J. pensions with lottery could happen this year, treasurer saysNews Story
The state treasurer said Thursday that Gov. Chris Christie's proposal to use New Jersey Lottery ticket proceeds to bolster the government worker pension fund could be finalized by the June 30 end of the fiscal year. Christie floated the somewhat opaque proposal to transfer assets from the lottery to the pension fund in his February budget address. His administration hasn't released any additional details since, including what would happen to the programs currently funded by the lottery.
Apr 7, 2017, 10:02 am - Lottery News