Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has asked the state Office of Administration to carry out a comprehensive review of the Missouri Lottery's operations.
The lottery posted more than $1.14 billion in sales last year, according to unaudited figures, but its $267.3 million profit (which goes to education funding) was $31 million short of its goal and was below 2006 totals when adjusted for inflation.
The governor cited declining lottery and casino revenue in his decision to withhold $35 million of education funding in May. General revenue collection for the 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, fell well short of both his and the Legislature's predictions.
The lottery accounts for about 4 percent of Missouri's public education funding.
On Sunday, the Post-Dispatch examined the performance of the lottery, which has struggled to grow since 2006 after years of consistently posting record profits. (See Seeing sales slowing, Missouri Lottery officials seek new customers, Lottery Post, July 22, 2014.)
Lottery officials attributed the decline in proceeds to education last year to poor winter conditions and a dearth of large jackpots.
In a statement, Nixon said the review will help ensure the lottery provides a steady funding source in the future. "Today, we have a responsibility to make sure the lottery keeps its promise to our public schools in an efficient and effective manner," he said.
The Missouri Lottery was created in 1986. In 1992, voters approved a constitutional amendment to earmark lottery profits solely for education.
Over time, as the lottery has boosted sales, its prize payout percentage has also increased. As a result, the share of its sales that help fund education programs has gradually declined. Last year, roughly 23.4 percent of sales went toward education funding and more than 70 percent went toward prizes.
Over time, as the lottery has boosted sales, its prize payout percentage has also increased. As a result, the share of its sales that help fund education programs has gradually declined. Last year, roughly 23.4 percent of sales went toward education funding and more than 70 percent went toward prizes.
Let's all move to Missouri!
'Course, that will probably be changing now...
The lottery needs to do several things to encourage play. Some examples would be:
-Increase the payoff amount. Right now it's around 50% of the take. Para-mutual betting pays around 90%.
-Allow winners a choice to claim publicly or remain anonymous, in every state and every lottery, not just the few who allow it now.
-End double and triple taxation of the prize. Right now the winner only gets 50%, which means they just were taxed, in effect, 50% of the take. Then they have federal and state taxes. Even in no tax states, they end up paying higher fees, etc, for services. Of a 100% take, winners end up with around 30% of it. In England, its tax free as the state gets their money from the total take. Here, they get it in fed and state taxes as well. If American lotteries did the same, I believe more would play the lottery.
-Stop using the state take of lottery money for specific reasons, like education, etc. In doing so states always count lottery money as revenue and reduce taxes, which in the long run ends up hurting schools by reducing state general funds to support them. Use the money to help finance special projects, like roads, or transit, etc. Don't treat it as regular tax revenues.
-Stop hiring private sector contractors to run the state lotteries. Hire state workers, responsible to elected representatives, to run it. Right now nearly every state hires contractors who then become an entrenched element on their own, working for their own benefit and not usually for the people. One of the major reasons lotteries (most of them) don't allow winners to claim anonymously is because of the contractors wanting all of the free publicity they get from winners going on national tv to accept their check, etc. This places the winners in a dangerous spot right out of the gate, and serves no purpose other than to promote what the lottery contractors want to promote: their lottery. Right now most states will not even consider letting winners have a choice because the lottery contractors are big time political donors and will not even allow bills in state chambers to come up for a vote. The state assembly committee which oversees the Virginia lottery will not even let the issue come up for debate in the House. All leaders of that committee receive big donations from the contractor. It's the same in nearly every state.
Right now players are voting with their wallets. Why play the lottery? Hell, if you win you could end up dead like that guy in Florida. I'm sure people consider things like that when they don't play. Unless the states wise up and start making changes less and less money will be spent on lotteries. People need a reason to play.
Good job Mr,Jay Nixon
Funding education should not be based on lottery revenues. People pay taxes for that?
I am from Missouri and I could tell those imbeciles what the problem is. Two years ago my wife's job
went overseas. She elected to go back to college for her third degree and graduated with honors in
accounting. A staff accountant normally starts out around $45K in our area but the best offer She has
received so far has been around 25K. She elected to go back into I-T and took temp employment for
around 32K while waiting for a better offer in the accounting field. In MO social services gets 33.034
percent of the state budget which amounts to over 8 billion. What's the difference between a highly
trained professional and burger flipper from Mickey-D's, about $3.00 an hour. These overpaid parasites
running the government should all be booted out. Another thing, when the wife went back to school she
was amazed to see that around 2/3 of the class were Chinese. Most could not speak English well enough
to ask questions the professors could understand, as a result, so much class time time was ate up trying
to figure what was being asked that much of the course material was never covered in class. I am sure the
taxpayers are footing a large portion of the bill and to top it off most don't want to return to china so they will
be taking American jobs. As Forrest Gump would say, "Stupid is stupid does."
RL
Jay Nixon sucks
RL
Quote
"With the miserable winter experienced by much of the country, this has been a tough year
for many lotteries. "If you can't get out of your house, you can't buy lottery tickets," said
Gary Gonder, the lottery's chief operating officer."
Here's one for you Gary Gonder, "Online ticket purchase." I can pay my bills, manage bank
accounts, deposit checks etc.. from my laptop setting on my couch but to buy a lottery ticket
I have to drive or walk to a retailer, sometimes stand in line, wait for the sales clerk to fumble
around with my bet-slips or reload the paper in the lottery terminal which ran out half way through
printing my tickets etc... It seems the MO. lottery is trailing behind in the digital age. If I were
able to buy my picks online I might be able to spend a little more as I would have extra cash not
having to spend as much on fuel and or walking shoes. I often don't play just because I don't
want to make a trip to pick them up. At my last address I had to drive 20 miles round trip to pick
up tickets as I lived in a rural area.
RL
RL
No doubt the drought of huge powerball and mega million jackpots have a role to play in the short fall not just for Missouri's Lottery but others around the country.
It is taking Mega Millions and Powerball a long time to reach $100 Million annuity. It is the point where players start to play more often. MM and PB starting jackpots are too low. We need a national lottery game with a $100 Million starting jackpot.