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N.Y. Gov. wants to privatize lotteryNews Story
New York may try to cash in on the future its lucrative lottery as a way to create a permanent education fund, and Wall Street is interested in taking the bet. The stakes are high for everyone, from students who could get better education to poor communities that might see more grocery money scratched away. For state government, a long-term leasing for part of the lottery and part of its profits to a private investor for 30 or 40 years could attract a massive upfront payment, perhaps in th
Jan 11, 2008, 6:43 am - Lottery News

Power outage has California lottery running on back-up generatorsNews Story
The California lottery disclosed Saturday night it was using emergency, backup electricity generators indefinitely to run online gambling and other games statewide due to a power outage. Lottery Director Joan Borucki assured gamblers that operations would remain normal but said full conventional power to all buildings may not be restored for some time. The lottery was able to conduct Saturday night's Super-LOTTO Plus draw of winning numbers, for instance, officials said. The outage,
Jan 6, 2008, 12:56 am - Lottery News

Vermont could become first state to privatize lotteryNews Story
No other state has leased its lottery, but Vermont wants to be the first. Governor Jim Douglas hopes the lease will bring in $50 million dollars for the state budget, on top of the $23 million the lottery brings in now. Today in a special report, VPR's John Dillon explores the advantages and disadvantages of what is so far an untested idea. (sound of lottery machine printing ticket) (Dillon) Johanne Gray is a regular at this convenience store in Montpelier. She likes to play the
Dec 21, 2007, 2:33 pm - Lottery News

Indiana governor drops lottery privatizationNews Story
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said today he won't make a renewed pitch in the upcoming legislative session for his proposal to privatize the Hoosier Lottery, saying lawmakers will be too busy considering property tax reforms. During the last session, Daniels proposed leasing the lottery to a private operator and said one company was willing to pay $1 billion plus $200 million in annual payments for the 30-year lease. The money it generated would have gone toward a life sciences fund and a
Nov 23, 2007, 11:38 am - Lottery News

Head of Turkish state lottery shot deadNews Story
The head of the Turkish state lottery was shot dead in his office by a former lottery employee on Friday, the state-run Anatolian news agency said. Lottery employees confirmed general manager Ihya Balak had been shot dead around 9:30 am (0730 GMT). They said police had sealed off the building. Private broadcaster NTV said the attacker, a former inspector at the state lottery, had shot Balak four times and had been detained by the police. It said the attacker had been the subject of an i
Nov 16, 2007, 7:21 pm - Lottery News

California looks to British lottery modelNews Story
California is seeking to become the first US state to privatize its lottery to raise as much as $37 billion ( 18 billion, 26 billion), with some of the funds used to finance governor Arnold Schwarzeneg ger's sweeping health care reforms. Some of Wall Street's biggest investment banks have made unsolicited approaches to the state to convince it of the merits of privatization. Goldman Sachs, Lehman Bros, JP Morgan, Bear Stearns, Citi, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS have all made pit
Oct 20, 2007, 8:44 pm - Lottery News

Some States Consider Leasing Their LotteriesNews Story
As chief operating officer of the California Department of Finance, Fred Klass gets pitches from Wall Street bankers as often as the rest of us might get cold calls from telemarketers or insurance agents. But when Kathleen Brown of Goldman Sachs came to his office earlier this year and suggested privatizing the state lottery, Mr. Klass listened closely. It wasn't merely because Ms. Brown happened to be a former state treasurer as well as the daughter of one famous California governor and the
Oct 16, 2007, 10:05 am - Lottery News

Calif. Gov: Sell lottery to fund health careNews Story
Hoping to rejuvenate lagging negotiations over health care reform, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he wants to use the state lottery to help finance his plan that would require all Californians to have health insurance. The Republican governor said at a news conference that he wants to lease the lottery to a private group and use about $2 billion a year of the proceeds to pay for his health insurance plan, without diverting any lottery funds used for education. The proposal is
Oct 12, 2007, 7:42 pm - Lottery News

Florida Gov. suggests selling the lotteryNews Story
Selling the state's lottery and some of its highways, such as Alligator Alley, to private companies may help solve Florida's financial dilemma, Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday. Crist said he wants lottery and transportation officials to examine the potential of going private but cautioned that doesn't mean he's sold on the idea. I don't know if it's good or bad at this point, but I think it's important to continue to be innovative, Crist said. It's merely an idea. It's not something I'm
Sep 5, 2007, 8:23 am - Lottery News

Sell the Mass. Lottery?News Story
Editor's note: The columnist's biased language, such as per-sucker spending was left as-written, since this is an opinion piece. Steve Bailey Boston Globe Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill created a buzz last week when he proposed that the state get into the casino business before the Mashpee Wampanoags beat us to the slots. Lost in the headlines was his analysis of the future of the state's cash cow of a state lottery, which by almost every measure is the envy of the industry. In shor
Jun 1, 2007, 10:45 am - Lottery News