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Lawsuit acuses Texas of misusing lottery fundsNews Story
A lawsuit filed by a watchdog group seeks to block the State of Texas from making more payments to a Las Vegas law firm hired a year ago to draft legislation to legalize video slot machines.The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Russ Verney of the national watchdog group Judicial Watch, contends that the state exceeded its authority when it agreed to spend lottery proceeds to pay the firm.The Texas attorney general's office hired the law firm Lionel, Sawyers and Collins to develop legislation that would
Dec 17, 2004, 3:13 pm - Lottery News

Tennessee lottery surplus has state officials scramblingNews Story
Pre-K, increased scholarship amounts, other school programs are possibilitiesTennesseans are playing the lottery, but not as many students as expected are taking advantage of college scholarships and state officials have not decided what to do with the surplus.The scholarship program is projected to have $115 million in excess this year and another $79 million next budget year.State Sen. Steve Cohen, who sponsored the lottery, wants the money to pay for pre-kindergarten classes and to increase s
Dec 15, 2004, 9:33 am - Lottery News

Tenn. Lottery Director Gets Pay CutNews Story
Tennessee Lottery director Rebecca Paul is getting a pay cut under a new plan adopted by the states lottery board Monday.Paul said she anticipated a drop in incentive pay because the $350,000 in bonuses she received for the first year was based on a very aggressive startup schedule.The recommendations of an approximately $85,000 independent study were approved by the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (TEL) board and would set Pauls salary at a total of $577,000. The salary assumes a $350,0
Nov 30, 2004, 7:18 am - Lottery News

Colorado Lottery trims costs by nearly $1 millionNews Story
A year after a state audit criticized spending at the Colorado Lottery, the agency has cut nearly $1 million from its budget by revamping its marketing, eliminating jobs and other measures.Lottery director Petty Gordon, who replaced Mark Zamarripa in January, said Monday she scrutinized all agency expenses to come up with $975,000 in cuts.The agency saved $454,00 by doing some of its own marketing, $287,000 by buying fewer scratch-off tickets and $164,000 by eliminating two redundant director jo
Nov 26, 2004, 12:18 pm - Lottery News

Ad blitz fuels Massachusetts Lottery successNews Story
Massachusetts lottery profits are on a record-setting pace this year, but officials are retooling the sagging Keno operation and launching new games to maintain the growth of state-sanctioned gambling revenues. Last year, our net return to the state was $912 million, which was our best return ever, Joseph Sullivan, director of the Massachusetts State Lottery told the Herald. We're on pace to beat that. Our first quarter, from July through Oct. 2, we're 5.4 percent higher in terms of our net pro
Nov 26, 2004, 12:11 pm - Lottery News

Colorado Lottery cuts $1 million from budgetNews Story
When Margaret Peggy Gordon took over the troubled Colorado Lottery early this year, she examined every contract and questioned every expense.That effort allowed the agency to cut nearly $1 million from its $22.8 million 2005-06 budget request in an era when many agencies are looking for additional funding from the already tight state budget. We were looking at everything individually, Gordon said. The staff really stepped up and found ways we could spend less and not cut what we're doing in
Nov 19, 2004, 11:55 am - Lottery News

Virginia Lottery reporting record first-quarter salesNews Story
The Virginia Lottery is hitting the jackpot - again.The state-run numbers game announced yesterday that first-quarter sales for the budget year that began July 1 are the best ever since the lottery was started in 1988.Sales reached $304.2 million, topping the previous record by approximately $27 million. Record sales for the first quarter - a period when sales are usually slack - have been reported for the past three years.Two months ago, Gov. Mark R. Warner announced record profits for the just
Oct 29, 2004, 8:32 am - Lottery News

Michigan Lottery Contributes Record $644.5 Million to School Aid FundNews Story
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Michigan Bureau of State Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters today announced that the School Aid Fund will receive a record $644.5 million from the Michigan Lottery with its fiscal year 2004 net proceeds.Peters presented Granholm with a ceremonial check at a press conference in Lansing. The Michigan Lottery plays a critical role in supporting our education system and our children, said Granholm. The citizens of Michigan authorized the Lottery as a way to fund educ
Oct 19, 2004, 11:11 am - Lottery News

Georgia Lottery sales take a dip during quarterNews Story
The Georgia Lottery, which posted record-breaking sales last year, ended the first quarter of the new budget year with a sales decline of $5 million compared with the same quarter a year ago.Despite the slower ticket sales, lottery officials said there will be no impact on any of the educational programs underwritten by the games, such as the popular HOPE scholarship program, which pays college costs for students with above-average grades and technical school costs for others.In fact, the state
Oct 18, 2004, 8:05 am - Lottery News

Tennessee Lottery transfers $51 million for scholarshipsNews Story
The Tennessee Lottery transferred $51.3 million Friday to fund college scholarships, bringing the total amount generated for education to more than $174 million, officials said.So far, some 47,000 Tennessee students have received lottery-funded awards during the program's first semester of funding. Another $2 million has been transferred to fund after-school programs for younger students, as dictated by the legislation approving the games. The excitement about this transfer is matched only by th
Oct 18, 2004, 7:52 am - Lottery News