Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Director Bishop Woosley resigns

Jul 15, 2020, 11:57 am (5 comments)

Arkansas Lottery

Will stay on in current role until August 3

By Kate Northrop

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — As of August 3, 2020, Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Director Bishop Woosley will be moving on from the Lottery to "pursue other opportunities."

In an email sent on Monday, Woosley notified Larry Walther, the Secretary for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, that he would be resigning. According to Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the department, the resignation was completely voluntary.

"It has been an absolute pleasure working with you over the past several years and I appreciate you allowing me to serve in this capacity," Woosley wrote.

On Tuesday, Walther announced that Woosley would be resigning.

"Since the lottery launched in 2009, Bishop has played a critical role in its success, overseeing a record amount of scholarships for Arkansas students," Walther stated in a press release. "I appreciate his leadership and wish him all the best as he moves forward in his career."

Woosley first joined the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery in 2009 as the Procurement Director and later added on the responsibilities of the Chief Legal Counsel to his role. In February 2012, he was promoted to Director following the tenure of Ernie Passailaigue, who served in the role until October 2011.

During Woosley's time as the Director, the lottery saw record sales. The lottery reported $519.2 million in revenue in 2019, an increase of about $16 million from 2018. Following the end of the 2020 fiscal year on June 30, the lottery reported an even greater figure, bringing in $532 million despite the nationwide shake-up wrought by the pandemic beginning in March. This year, the lottery raised $89.4 million for college scholarships.

Although Woosley had said in an interview that he doesn't have any plans at this point for his next job, he was elected Secretary of Board for the Multi-State Lottery Association for the 2021 fiscal year alongside Sarah Taylor, who was elected the board's President.

Upon his resignation effective August 3, Michael Helms, the current Chief Legal Counsel of the Lottery, will act as the interim Director. As of now, it is not clear when or whether there will be a national search for a new Director.

"I want to thank the wonderful staff at the lottery for 11 great years," Woosley said. "I am proud of what we accomplished, and I firmly believe they will continue to do great things for the students in Arkansas."

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Lottery Post Staff

Comments

music*'s avatarmusic*

I hope that MUSL will benefit by having Sara Taylor as President and Bishop Woosley as Secretary of the Board. 

 I hope for excellent news in the future when MUSL is involved.

noise-gate

Perhaps Bishop can lean on Sarah with the idea that the ticket price for both PB & MM should be lowered to a dollar. Sometimes two heads are better than one, especially if they see eye to eye. One the other hand Bishop May have been put in there to make sure Sarah doesn't become a she wolf. Only time will tell.

Unlucky-Kenny's avatarUnlucky-Kenny

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Jul 16, 2020

Perhaps Bishop can lean on Sarah with the idea that the ticket price for both PB & MM should be lowered to a dollar. Sometimes two heads are better than one, especially if they see eye to eye. One the other hand Bishop May have been put in there to make sure Sarah doesn't become a she wolf. Only time will tell.

If they are going to have lower starting jackpots and the growth will be slower due to changes they made - it should be lowered in price.

They made the changes and they will be the ones to...not...make it.... a dollar

Sad Cheers

If PB or MM or both became a $1 I'd be playing more - I bet they would see a surge in sales because more people could justify spending a $1 when they didn't want to spend $2 (or spending $2 for ticket with multiplier).

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by Unlucky-Kenny on Jul 16, 2020

If they are going to have lower starting jackpots and the growth will be slower due to changes they made - it should be lowered in price.

They made the changes and they will be the ones to...not...make it.... a dollar

Sad Cheers

If PB or MM or both became a $1 I'd be playing more - I bet they would see a surge in sales because more people could justify spending a $1 when they didn't want to spend $2 (or spending $2 for ticket with multiplier).

  • I Agree! ...l will go further by saying that if Sarah & Bishop decided to have a joint press conference where they say "People, we have heard the cries for fairness in our games and we, along with the board have come up with this resolution. Starting in the first week of August, the price for a ticket will drop to $1.00 a line. It will remain at that price until our nation has recovered from Covid-19 and we are back on our feet. However, once we are back on track, we will increase the starting jackpot to $40 mil and raise the ticket price back to $2.00 a line." Do we have an accord?
  • The player's response would be...

fred astaire GIF by Maudit

music*'s avatarmusic*

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Jul 17, 2020

  • I Agree! ...l will go further by saying that if Sarah & Bishop decided to have a joint press conference where they say "People, we have heard the cries for fairness in our games and we, along with the board have come up with this resolution. Starting in the first week of August, the price for a ticket will drop to $1.00 a line. It will remain at that price until our nation has recovered from Covid-19 and we are back on our feet. However, once we are back on track, we will increase the starting jackpot to $40 mil and raise the ticket price back to $2.00 a line." Do we have an accord?
  • The player's response would be...

fred astaire GIF by Maudit

Dancing with joy! Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The golden years of Hollywood.

End of comments
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