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State Lotteries: A Boon for State Budgets
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19618 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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10 / 1991 |
1,818 Words |
| Author
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Jim Hosker
Jim Hosker is president of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation
and the North American Association of State and Provincial
Lotteries. |
Why have a state lottery? Do state governments really have any business being in the entertainment and marketing industries?
I say, why not? Lotteries help us all. They help provide a low-cost entertainment option for people with discretionary dollars to spend. Our players have told us time and again that they want our products--everything from the fun created by an instant scratch-off game of tick tack toe to the thrill of trying to hit a $119 million lotto jackpot. U.S. lottery sales have more than doubled in the last 5 years. More and more states continue to consider lotteries. Louisiana has just joined the family of lottery states. Texas and Georgia appear poised to follow. The people want to play.
Lotteries Help Change Lives
Ask the 73-year-old great-grandmother who recently won $10 million from the Kentucky lottery. She had been living in a federally subsidized one-room apartment.
But most importantly, lotteries help the states they serve. They fund badly depleted public treasuries in an age when $100 million budget deficits have become commonplace. And that's a help to us all--even those of us who choose not to play.
Lottery games offer affordable entertainment and badly needed revenue dollars, and playing is strictly optional. If you choose not to play the lottery, then you don't have to, but you can still enjoy the benefits of lottery proceeds. When was the last time you were offered the option of paying sales or property taxes?
Lotteries have played a historic role in the United Sates, but they have been with us since biblical times. Lottery games were played in ancient Rome and were used to raise public funds as early as the Renaissance. In pioneer America, lottery funds were used to build schools and universities, cities and roads. Lottery proceeds funded George Washington's army and early institutions of higher learning, such as Harvard and Yale.
Today, lotteries have become the fastest growing source of revenue for state and provincial governments worldwide. The U.S. lottery industry alone earned nearly $20.7 billion in fiscal 1991. Of that amount, some $7.8 billion funded important state programs and projects--everything from education and economic development to senior citizen programs and road projects. Those are dollars
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