An Arkansas Lottery?

[Mith242]

I started this topic over in the Arkansas coffeeshop subforum. But unfortunately it's pretty dead over there. So I thought I'd giver it a try over here and see if I could get a little more interest. Anyway Lt Gov Bill Halter is putting forth a bill to try to get a state lottery. I know we've discussed things like this before. But this time I was curious to see if people think this bill would actually get passed or not. Not necessarily dealing with everyone's personal opinion on gambling itself. I think in the past part of the problem was that average citizens were trying to do this and a lot of times the bill wasn't worded very well and such. But I wondered if having the Lt Gov pushing for this himself might help the matter.

[zman9810]

I think it will pass if it makes it to the ballot. Seems like the last two attempts had casino gaming in the mix and that probably would kill this one also. Financially it makes sense to have a lottery because of all the money that leaves the state when residents go across state lines to play it. People that play it irresponsibly will have problems whether we have a lottery or not.

[Mith242]

Yeah I'm hoping so. I guess to be honest it just makes it a bit easier for the people living in central Arkansas. I don't think all of our neighboring states have lotteries but most do. I still say Arkansas isn't keeping anyone from gambling or playing the lottery, they're just sending people (and money) across the state border. If it doesn't pass this time, then I don't foresee it happening for a very long time. Not until say there's been some changes to the state's population. Either enough new people coming in or perhaps some residents moving elsewhere. Although the ones moving could be ones that support a lottery.

[masons_dad1]

It's okay to have raffles at church picnics and county faires so what's so bad about a state lottery? Its just another form of raffle, only much bigger and beneficial to more people.

[Mith242]

It's okay to have raffles at church picnics and county faires so what's so bad about a state lottery? Its just another form of raffle, only much bigger and beneficial to more people.

[zman9810]

Looks like the battle has begun to get a state lottery question on the ballot. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has rejected Lt. Gov. Bill Halters amendment but Halter and his supporters are determined to rewrite it until it is accepted. Some think that politics may be involved because Halter and McDaniel may be future opponents in a race for govenor. It sounds to me that the forces against a lottery are afraid to let the public vote on it because it would probably pass easily. Here's a Democrat -Gazette story with more details.ADG lottery article

[Mith242]

Looks like the battle has begun to get a state lottery question on the ballot. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has rejected Lt. Gov. Bill Halters amendment but Halter and his supporters are determined to rewrite it until it is accepted. Some think that politics may be involved because Halter and McDaniel may be future opponents in a race for governor. It sounds to me that the forces against a lottery are afraid to let the public vote on it because it would probably pass easily. Here's a Democrat -Gazette story with more details.ADG lottery article

[mzweig]

I sure hope we don't pass a lottery. It is just another regressive tax on the poor. Poor people who are ignorant of the laws of probability are the big losers. I saw a study done of the Massachusetts lottery once. The two most affluent towns had an average per-capita lottery ticket consumption rate of about $29 per year. The two poorest towns in the state had an average, per-capita lottery ticket consumption of about $1100! That is outrageous and illustrates why I am against a lottery. The other reason is every time you go to a quickie mart for gas or chocolate donuts there are people in front of you buying lottery tickets--"I'll take two of the wheel of fortunes, three of those $5 lucky winner scratch tickets, and then a quick pick for the Arkansas Millions drawing-- and give me three more $2 scratch tickets, etc." It will drive you mad!

M

[Mith242]

While I see your point, I guess what gets me is that people are already doing it. They just go across the state line to do it. So people are already spending money on it and our state doesn't get any but the negative aspects of it. While our neighboring states get all the revenue.

[zman9810]

While I see your point, I guess what gets me is that people are already doing it. They just go across the state line to do it. So people are already spending money on it and our state doesn't get any but the negative aspects of it. While our neighboring states get all the revenue.

[mzweig]

Yeah, I read that a Missouri Lottery official estimated that they would lose $29 million per year if Arkansas passed a lottery and that is just one of 5 states bordering Arkansas that has one. How they came to that number I don't know since it's not like you have to show ID to buy lottery tickets. Sometimes it seems studies show what the group paying for it wants the study to show.

I wonder about that Mass. study- if that amount for the two poorest towns is right then it's taking the total sales of lottery tickets and dividing it by the population (per capita). I imagine you need to be at least 18 to buy lottery tickets so that lets out a large part of the population. If you have 50% (just a wild guess) participation of all adults in the ticket sales then the dollar amount to get to the average of $1,100 becomes much larger. If people are spending $3,000 to $5,000 per year on the lottery then they either have it to spend or have bigger problems than playing the lottery.

[mzweig]

One more thing. If you want to see an interesting study done by Duke University in 1998 or 1999 about state lotteries, check out the following link. You will see that across the board, the less education you have, the more people play. Also, the less income they make, the more they play. It also shows that people play much more more in states that have a lottery than states where they have to cross a state line--three times as much.

http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/reports/lotfinal.pdf

[Mith242]

Guys--I understand your logic about neighboring states having lotteries and we lose that revenue. I'm sure that there's truth to that. But I do think, if you research it, that you will find those who can least afford to play the lottery are the biggest players. It's their only chance out of the poor house. To me, two wrongs don't make a right. Why should we encourage even more people to pick up the "gambling disease," an addiction just like any other addiction, that can ruin their lives? I knew a guy once whose mother was addicted to the lottery. She made something like $17,500 a year on social security and spent $17,000 a year on the lottery. Her kids had to support her because of it. That's pathetic.