While lawmakers in the state of Florida debate how to expand casino gambling, the Florida Lottery has expansion plans of their own. This past week, the Lottery published the details of what type of new options they are looking to offer.
Last year, the Lottery added 1,000 vending machines that sold their scratch off tickets. Now, the agency would like to add more of these machines. That would require legislative approval, and there could be resistance to new outlets.
The Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability has given their opinion and they do not want more games added. The concern is that with more games, more gambling addiction will come. The real reason, however, could be the Seminole Indians.
Some lawmakers believe that a deal with the Seminoles should be completed before other gambling avenues are explored. Two gambling compacts with the Seminoles have already been turned away by legislators. Now, the lawmakers are looking into expansion for the pari-mutuel facilities in the state.
In addition to the vending machines, Florida also added the Powerball Lottery game last year. Powerball is a game that is played by residents of many different states. Mega Millions is another multi-state game that is being considered for Florida.
The upside to the Lottery adding more options is increased revenue for the state's education system. Governor Charlie Crist recently proposed a new budget that calls for an increase in funding from the state.
"The Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability has given their opinion and they do not want more games added."
So what? Who are these people; who cares what they want and why? Are they government bubble-heads or some elitist think-tank or focus-group? They say that more games will cause more gambling addiction? So there's a threshold number of games someone waits to see before they decide to become a problem gambler? I love these so-called experts. These are the same kind of "experts" who want guns outlawed everywhere because they believe guns kill people. All the statistics show that crime increases dramatically everywhere guns are outlawed but idiots like these won't accept the facts because it doesn't fit their agenda. That, and the fact that they think people are generally stupid and will believe anything they say.
Doesn't Florida move slow enough without throwing in the "experts" opinions to really screw things up?
I had an employer once who was very successful in business and he had a phrase he used to use for 'experts' : "Too much education and not enough common sense."
What we need is better scratch-offs with more prizes, not more machines. Florida could learn a thing or two from Massachusetts and NY. NY has a Win For Life in every price range: $1, $2, $5, $10 and $30. MA has an average of 2-4 new scratch-off millionaires a month. That's how you do it.