Mississippi Lottery working to get operational this year

Feb 27, 2019, 3:26 pm (12 comments)

Mississippi Lottery

Includes video report

Official says first lottery games ready to play in 2019

The Vice-Chair of the newly-created Mississippi Lottery Corporation said in an interview this week that the state's first lottery games will be ready to play by the third quarter of 2019.

The Mississippi Lottery was created in 2018 after legislators witnessed millions of dollars flowing into neighboring states when multi-state lottery jackpots grew very large.

The 2018 Special Session brought about the passage of three major bills, one of which being the Lottery Bill, SB 2001. This created the Mississippi Lottery Corporation whose members were appointed by Governor Phil Bryant.

The members include Dr. Cass Pennington, Philip A. Chamblee, Dr. Mike McGrevey, Kimberly LaRosa, and Gerard Gibert serving as Vice-Chairman.

The lottery itself will not be funded by taxpayers, or the legislature. The funding to start the working capitol will come from a typical bank loan. Once those measures are achieved the Corporation board members will begin to hire staff and put together policy and procedures.

"The first order of business was really to contract with a law firm to provide legal services. That milestone has been achieved and we plan to make that announcement in the next few days," said Gibert. With this law firm contract in place, the board is now able to move forward with securing loans.

The first $80 million of net proceeds will go to the state highway fund, any excess over that amount in a year will go to the Education Enhancement fund. Things will stay that way for the first 10 years of operation. After that the first $80 million of net revenue goes to the General Fund.

While there is no specific deadline for the lottery to be up and running, Gibert said they expect to see some type of games up and running by the third quarter of 2019 and in full swing by the first quarter of 2020.

"The objective of this corporation and its charter is to maximize profit for the taxpayers in the state of Mississippi, and that's what this board intends to do," said Gibert.

VIDEO: Watch the interview

Y'all Politics, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Bleudog101

Am truly happy for the residents of Mississippi.  They deserve a lottery.  Personally don't think it'll make much of a dent in MM or PB, but you never know.

That will the last state to get a lottery-oh, let me digress, maybe Alabama?  But you can bet that Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah will never have one.

music*'s avatarmusic*

Congratulations to the Mississippi Lottery for getting up and running in July - Sept. 2019. 

 A Mississippi gambler will now have more options. soon. Keep the funds in State! Party

s5thomps's avatars5thomps

I Agree! Being a resident of Alaska I'd have to agree. Nevada has Vegas and Utah is a conservative Mormon state. Hawaii may join the party at some point. I figure with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands having a lottery why not Hawaii?

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by s5thomps on Feb 27, 2019

I Agree! Being a resident of Alaska I'd have to agree. Nevada has Vegas and Utah is a conservative Mormon state. Hawaii may join the party at some point. I figure with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands having a lottery why not Hawaii?

I Agree!I Agree!Still waiting for Mega Millions to come to Puerto Rico; is there website still down?  I can't find it anywhere.

With Hawaii it would be strange to have an early afternoon cut-off to make up for the East Coast time difference for drawings.

Bleudog101

Misspelled their, sorry head is pounding.

oate's avataroate

I wonder if they will allow anonymous claims or claims through trusts and the like. My guess is no.

sully16's avatarsully16

Cool.Hyper

LottoBux's avatarLottoBux

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on Feb 27, 2019

I Agree!I Agree!Still waiting for Mega Millions to come to Puerto Rico; is there website still down?  I can't find it anywhere.

With Hawaii it would be strange to have an early afternoon cut-off to make up for the East Coast time difference for drawings.

Hows Your Spanish Bleudog?

I'm Not Sure If This Is The Official Website Or Not

https://www.lotodepuertorico.com/

This Is The Winning Numbers Page Translated

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://numeros-ganadores.lotodepuertorico.com/&prev=search

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by LottoBux on Feb 28, 2019

Hows Your Spanish Bleudog?

I'm Not Sure If This Is The Official Website Or Not

https://www.lotodepuertorico.com/

This Is The Winning Numbers Page Translated

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://numeros-ganadores.lotodepuertorico.com/&prev=search

Nicht so gut for Espanol and barely passible Deutsch. 

Thanks for the websites, will give it a try.

Todd's avatarTodd

That is not an official Puerto Rico Lottery website, just someone's private website.

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Feb 28, 2019

That is not an official Puerto Rico Lottery website, just someone's private website.

Thank you Todd, had figured it out looking @ the site.  Their real lottery site must still be down, IDK.

Big Joey

For years, the Mississippi convenience stores have seemed empty, like there was something missing. I always wanted to buy lottery tickets while there in different areas.

End of comments
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