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A mega decision for California Lottery?News Story
The state lottery's 2005 entrance into multi-state Mega Millions lotto would become fully legal, and fair to gamblers and schools, under a bill approved Thursday by the Assembly. At the same time, the Assembly said it is hiring a think tank, Los Angeles-based Milken Institute, to assess Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's push to privatize the state-run lottery. The move came after the governor briefed Democratic legislative leaders on the plan, aimed at yielding immediate cash to ease the state bud
May 26, 2007, 9:40 am - Lottery News

Is the lottery a tax? N.C. appeals court hears argumentsNews Story
The profit from the sale of lottery tickets in North Carolina is really a tax on the state's residents, which means the law that created the games was passed unconstitutionally, attorneys for a group of taxpayers argued Tuesday before the state Court of Appeals. The fundamental criteria is that the revenue is going to the general benefit of the public, Robert Orr, the taxpayers' lawyer, told the three-judge panel. The lottery was sold as a revenue-raising proposition to raise money for edu
May 22, 2007, 8:55 pm - Lottery News

West Virginia resisting trend to privatize LotteryNews Story
About a dozen states are flirting with the idea of selling their lotteries to private companies to help plug financial gaps in their budgets. But West Virginia officials say they so far have not seriously considered such an initiative, which would privatize the state lottery in exchange for quick cash. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for instance, wants to sell the Golden State's lottery to bring in as much as $37 billion. Under Schwarzenegger's plan, the state lottery would be leas
May 10, 2007, 4:26 pm - Lottery News

Schwarzenegger may try to privatize California LotteryNews Story
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is poised to call for privatizing the state lottery, a move that would bring California a cash infusion of as much as $37 billion to help solve pressing budget problems but also could sacrifice a major revenue source for decades to come. The lottery would be leased to a private company for up to 40 years in exchange for a lump-sum payment or series of payments, according to documents from the governor's budget office that were provided to legislative staf
May 10, 2007, 2:56 pm - Lottery News

Lawsuit challenges N.C. LotteryNews Story
Plaintiffs say the lottery is a tax because of the education allocation and was passed unconstitutionally An esoteric argument under way in the courts over the North Carolina lottery Is a part of each ticket a tax or is the state just making a profit? could have an effect that's easy to understand: No more lottery. The N.C. Court of Appeals will hear arguments in three weeks. The case is pushed by a nonprofit legal group that sees the lottery as a tax that didn't go through the req
Apr 29, 2007, 5:20 pm - Lottery News

Indiana Lottery privatization on holdNews Story
Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday he is putting off but not giving up on his hopes of privatizing the Hoosier Lottery and wants a yearlong, statewide conversation on how best to spend the $2 billion or more the lease could bring. Daniels said 10 companies, mostly American firms, have submitted nonbinding bids to lease the Hoosier Lottery. Half of those, he said, are north of a billion and a half, with two offers well over twice as big as the $1 billion the state had estimated it could rece
Apr 23, 2007, 10:07 am - Lottery News

Republican says Colo. Gov. pressure killed plan to privatize lotteryNews Story
Republicans are accusing the Colorado governor of pressuring his party's legislators into essentially killing a plan to privatize the lottery. They claimed Gov. Bill Ritter believes the lottery proposal would compete with his plan to bring in more property taxes to pay for education. Ritter denied the accusations Friday. Republican Sen. Josh Penry of Fruita also said his Democratic co-sponsor on the lottery plan was under tremendous pressure to back away from the idea. The co-spons
Apr 22, 2007, 10:58 am - Lottery News

Legal opinion sinks sale of Colorado LotteryNews Story
Dreams of selling off the Colorado Lottery for a fat payoff were discarded like a losing scratch ticket Thursday after state legal experts gave an adverse opinion on the plan. Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said he would not seek a measure that would ask voters to sell a concession contract in the state lottery because he couldn't fix a legal opinion that referred to the proposed sale as the state taking on $3 billion in debt. I may be a freshman, but I'm not that stupid, Romer said.
Apr 20, 2007, 8:08 am - Lottery News

N.M. Gov. signs bill to extend lottery scholarshipsNews Story
A bill signed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday is designed to extend the life of the lottery scholarship fund, which has been projected to run out of money in the next few years. Senate Bill 364, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, will require that more money from lottery sales goes to the scholarship fund, and less to administration. The lottery scholarship allows all New Mexico high school graduates in good academic standing to attend college in s
Mar 30, 2007, 10:36 am - Lottery News

Party leader wants to repeal Okla. LotteryNews Story
The head of Oklahoma's Republican Party, citing lower-than-expected revenue and escalating social costs, is calling for repeal of the Oklahoma Lottery. Only 18 months after the first lottery ticket was sold in the state, state Republican Party chairman Tom Daxon says the lottery, approved with 64 percent of the vote in a statewide referendum in November 2004, has not worked out as the voters were led to believe. Democratic Governor Brad Henry supported a statewide lottery as a way to rais
Mar 27, 2007, 10:06 am - Lottery News