The Problems with State-Operated Lotteries
Gambling Operations Realize that Long-Term Success Hinges on Capturing the Hearts and Minds of the Next Generation...and They'll Use Any Trojan Horse — Including Empty Promises for Education — To Achieve That Goal.
Lottery States Spend Less Of Their Budgets on Education....
...than states without lotteries, about 50% for lottery states and 60% for non-lottery states. Often the states earmarked less of their general fund for education as lottery funds were contributed. The result was that there was no actual increase in education spending. (Peter Keating, "Lotto Fever: We All Lose," Money (May 1996), p. 144)
Two professors at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, conducted extensive mathematical analyses on states with "education lotteries" and published their findings in State and Local Government Review, a scholarly publication of the University of Georgia. Their conclusion: "Lotteries are false promises for education. In fact, states are likely to decrease their rate of spending for education upon operating lotteries designated for that purpose"... "Regardless of when and where the lottery operated, education spending declined once a state put a lottery into effect...This study indicates that states without lotteries actually maintain and increase their education spending more so than states with lotteries...Hence, citizens should recognize that claims of winning those lotteries are meager." (Donald Miller/Patrick Pierce, "Lotteries for Education: Windfall or Hoax? State and Local Government Review Winter 1997 pp. 40-41)
A study by Money magazine said that states without lotteries actually spend a greater percentage of their budget on education. (Peter Keating "Lotto Fever: We All Lose" Money, May 1996 pp. 144-147)
Citing the work of Duke University professors Charles Clotfelter and Philip Cook, a report states, "There is no practical way of preventing a legislature from allocating general revenues away from earmarked uses, thus blunting the purpose of the earmarking..." (News and Observer, April 26, 2000)
Lotteries Make It Difficult for Public Education Systems to Raise Additional Money
Ohio State Representative Marc Guthrie stated that by focusing on the contribution of lotteries to education the state "creates the perception in the eyes of the public that the lottery provides a lot more for education than it does...it causes citizens to respond negatively to local efforts to raise revenue." (Laurel Walters, "Taking a Chance on Education," Christian Science Monitor (August 16, 1993) p. 9)
The Contribution that Lotteries Make to Public Education is Minimal
In California in 1991, the lottery contributed a mere 2.59% of the revenue received by the state's elementary and secondary schools. This amounts to only 4 days of operating revenue. (Alan Weston, "Report Says Lottery No Bonanza for Education," Kingsport Times — News (August 29, 1993) p. 1B)
States That Have Passed Lotteries for Education
California — started lottery in 1985
A closer look at the Georgia HOPE Scholarship Program is equally disappointing. The vast majority of tuition receipts are from middle — and upper-class families, most of who would have been able to pay for tuition at state universities anyway. (The students with the greatest financial need are already eligible for federal Pell Grant money.) But while many middle — and upper-income Georgians are playing the lottery, they are not the big spenders. An analysis of data from Atlanta shows low-income families spending 2.5 times as much on the lottery as middle — and upper-income families. Since bigger spenders will lose more to the lottery, this amounts to a transfer of wealth from those of lower income to those of higher income — a perverse reverse Robin Hood.
Analysis by the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center suggests that a HOPE Scholarship program in North Carolina would provide 79% of its benefit to the federal government and only 21% to North Carolina families. Thus, the real transfer here would be from North Carolinians who pay the lottery tax (by buying lottery tickets and losing) to the federal treasury. (News and Observer, April 26, 2000)
Students Learn Luck, Not Work Ethic
Students will learn that study, sweat, and diligence have become outmoded means to success. They will be pummeled by advertisements from their government telling them "all you need is a dollar and a dream" (New York), that "work is nothing but heart-attack-inducing drudgery" (Massachusetts), that the lottery "could be your ticket out" of poverty (Illinois), or "call in sick next year" and "take a 365-day weekend" (Louisiana). Students exposed to this are forced to reconcile such alluring messages with the much less glamorous concepts of study, perseverance and diligence. (www.family.org)
Harvard Professor of Government Michael J. Sandel writes: "With states hooked on [lottery] money, they have no choice but to continue to bombard their citizens, especially the most vulnerable ones, with a message at odds with the ethic of work, sacrifice, and moral responsibility that sustains democratic life. This civic corruption is the gravest harm that lotteries bring. It degrades the public realm by casting the government as the purveyor of a perverse civic education." (Michael Sandel, "The Hard Questions: Bad Bet," New Republic, March 10, 1997, p. 27)
Legalized Gambling Devastates Families
Authorities in gambling jurisdictions report dramatic increases in divorce, suicide, bankruptcy, child abuse, and domestic violence related to gambling. Research shows that children of gambling addicts experience lower levels of mental health and physical well-being.
Lotteries are a highly addictive form of gambling. The final report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission documents strong links between gambling addiction and crime, homelessness, child abuse and neglect, bankruptcy, divorce, and not to mention poor performance at work and school.
A 1997 investigation by Mother Jones magazine found that the gambling industry had spent in excess of $100 million in political contributions and lobbying fees in the previous five years in an attempt to influence state governments. (Martin Koughan, "Easy Money." Mother Jones, July/August 1997, p. 35)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Dr. Daniel Suits, an economist and statistician at Michigan State University, computerd that a person has as much chance of winning the New York lottery as they do of being struck by lightning three times in one day and then walking outside and bumping into four strangers who share their same birthday! (Dr. James Kennedy's sermon, "What's Wrong with Gambling?")
Adolescent Gambling
Massachusetts state law prohibiting lottery play by minors is ineffective. A 1994 survey conducted by the state's attorney general found minors as young as 9 years old were able to purchase lottery tickets on 80% of their attempts. (Scott Harshbarger, AG, "Report on the Sale of Lottery Tickets to Minors in Mass," July 1994, pp. 3-4)
Other surveys show the percent of adolescents that play the lottery in: Louisiana (32%); Texas (34%); and Connecticut (35%). A survey published by Journal of Gambling Studies found that a 16-year old girl was able to purchase a lottery ticket from 49 to 50 central Illinois lottery retailers. (Joe Gyan, "More Louisiana Youths Try Gambling than Drugs," Baton Rouge, LA, Advocate, August 8, 1997; Lynn Wallisch, "Gambling in Texas: 1995 Surveys of Adults and Adolescent Gambling Behavior," Texas Commission of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, August 8, 1996, p. 78; Lyn Bixyb, "Lottery Pitch Seen as Luring Kids," Hartford Courant, October 23, 1997, p. A4; Thomas Radecki, "The Sales of Lottery Tickets to Minors in Illinois," Journal of Gambling Studies, vol. 10, no. 3, 1994, p. 213)
Twenty percent of gambling addicts attempt suicide. A 16-year old New Jersey boy slashed his wrists after losing $6,000 on lottery tickets — his entire savings from a newspaper delivery route. (www.family.org — A Lottery Education)
Duke University professors Charles Clotfelter and Philip Cook found that high school dropouts spend four times as much as college graduates on lotteries (www.family.org — A Lottery Education)
Ronald Reno, Senior Research Analyst in the Department of Legislature and Cultural Affairs at Focus on the Family, said, "A state lottery would provide quite a learning experience for Alabama's schoolchildren. Unfortunately, it will take far more than four years of college to undo the damages of a lottery education." (www.family.org — A Lottery Education)
Internet Coming to Schools Despite Failure of Lottery
Governor Don Siegelman of Alabama said that his goal before he leaves office is to make Alabama one of the top 10 states in America for technology despite the failure of a lottery. He plans a giant leap to take modern computers, technology, and broadband Internet access to all students within the next three years. He plans to finance it with $9 million of state money which will parlay into $20 million or more in federal matching money. (The Decatur Daily, December 4, 2000)
Lottery States Spend Less Of Their Budgets on Education....
...than states without lotteries, about 50% for lottery states and 60% for non-lottery states. Often the states earmarked less of their general fund for education as lottery funds were contributed. The result was that there was no actual increase in education spending. (Peter Keating, "Lotto Fever: We All Lose," Money (May 1996), p. 144)
Two professors at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, conducted extensive mathematical analyses on states with "education lotteries" and published their findings in State and Local Government Review, a scholarly publication of the University of Georgia. Their conclusion: "Lotteries are false promises for education. In fact, states are likely to decrease their rate of spending for education upon operating lotteries designated for that purpose"... "Regardless of when and where the lottery operated, education spending declined once a state put a lottery into effect...This study indicates that states without lotteries actually maintain and increase their education spending more so than states with lotteries...Hence, citizens should recognize that claims of winning those lotteries are meager." (Donald Miller/Patrick Pierce, "Lotteries for Education: Windfall or Hoax? State and Local Government Review Winter 1997 pp. 40-41)
A study by Money magazine said that states without lotteries actually spend a greater percentage of their budget on education. (Peter Keating "Lotto Fever: We All Lose" Money, May 1996 pp. 144-147)
Citing the work of Duke University professors Charles Clotfelter and Philip Cook, a report states, "There is no practical way of preventing a legislature from allocating general revenues away from earmarked uses, thus blunting the purpose of the earmarking..." (News and Observer, April 26, 2000)
Lotteries Make It Difficult for Public Education Systems to Raise Additional Money
Ohio State Representative Marc Guthrie stated that by focusing on the contribution of lotteries to education the state "creates the perception in the eyes of the public that the lottery provides a lot more for education than it does...it causes citizens to respond negatively to local efforts to raise revenue." (Laurel Walters, "Taking a Chance on Education," Christian Science Monitor (August 16, 1993) p. 9)
The Contribution that Lotteries Make to Public Education is Minimal
In California in 1991, the lottery contributed a mere 2.59% of the revenue received by the state's elementary and secondary schools. This amounts to only 4 days of operating revenue. (Alan Weston, "Report Says Lottery No Bonanza for Education," Kingsport Times — News (August 29, 1993) p. 1B)
States That Have Passed Lotteries for Education
California — started lottery in 1985
- Gross revenues have fallen from $2.6 billion in 1989 to $1.4 billion in 1992.
- Four out of ten players are unemployed, and one out of four heavy players earn less than $15,000 annually.
- Holiday Food supermarkets quit selling lottery tickets. During the first six months of the lottery, the chain sold $1.8 million worth of lottery tickets — and food sales fell by $1.8 million.
- A group from Idaho conducted a survey of 538 of California's 1,074 school superintendents when Idaho was thinking about starting a lottery. The results: 95% of the California School superintendents said the lottery has undermined legislative support of education funding; 94% said it has cut public support of schools; 71% said lottery funds have not solved any financial problems in their district; 87% said the lottery is an "unreliable" source of money; and 54% branded it an "undesirable funding source." (Pasadena, CA Star-News)
- Gross revenues fell from $2.18 billion in 1992 to a projected $2 billion for 1993.
- When Florida adopted the lottery, the state spent 60% of its budget on education; 5 years later it dropped to 51%.
- Before the lottery, voters approved 21 of 22 bond issues; after the lottery, they passed 3 of 15 bond issues and sales tax increases for education.
- In 1990, the Florida Chamber of Commerce did a Florida Lottery Report Update and said in its conclusion: "When Florida voters passed the lottery constitutional amendment, they intended that lottery funds which are not applied to prizes and administration be used by the state to enhance education. That intent has not been followed. All state lottery dollars are being used to supplant revenue sources previously used to fund education."
- Winn-Dixie supermarkets quit selling lottery tickets. Store managers complained that long lines and confusion at cash registers drove grocer shoppers away.
- In 1995, the gambling industry hired 48 lobbyists to push gambling in Virginia's legislature.
- A study in the Hampton Roads area indicates that lottery sales cost retail businesses in that region $430 million over three years. (News and Observer, June 20, 1993)
A closer look at the Georgia HOPE Scholarship Program is equally disappointing. The vast majority of tuition receipts are from middle — and upper-class families, most of who would have been able to pay for tuition at state universities anyway. (The students with the greatest financial need are already eligible for federal Pell Grant money.) But while many middle — and upper-income Georgians are playing the lottery, they are not the big spenders. An analysis of data from Atlanta shows low-income families spending 2.5 times as much on the lottery as middle — and upper-income families. Since bigger spenders will lose more to the lottery, this amounts to a transfer of wealth from those of lower income to those of higher income — a perverse reverse Robin Hood.
Analysis by the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center suggests that a HOPE Scholarship program in North Carolina would provide 79% of its benefit to the federal government and only 21% to North Carolina families. Thus, the real transfer here would be from North Carolinians who pay the lottery tax (by buying lottery tickets and losing) to the federal treasury. (News and Observer, April 26, 2000)
Students Learn Luck, Not Work Ethic
Students will learn that study, sweat, and diligence have become outmoded means to success. They will be pummeled by advertisements from their government telling them "all you need is a dollar and a dream" (New York), that "work is nothing but heart-attack-inducing drudgery" (Massachusetts), that the lottery "could be your ticket out" of poverty (Illinois), or "call in sick next year" and "take a 365-day weekend" (Louisiana). Students exposed to this are forced to reconcile such alluring messages with the much less glamorous concepts of study, perseverance and diligence. (www.family.org)
Harvard Professor of Government Michael J. Sandel writes: "With states hooked on [lottery] money, they have no choice but to continue to bombard their citizens, especially the most vulnerable ones, with a message at odds with the ethic of work, sacrifice, and moral responsibility that sustains democratic life. This civic corruption is the gravest harm that lotteries bring. It degrades the public realm by casting the government as the purveyor of a perverse civic education." (Michael Sandel, "The Hard Questions: Bad Bet," New Republic, March 10, 1997, p. 27)
Legalized Gambling Devastates Families
Authorities in gambling jurisdictions report dramatic increases in divorce, suicide, bankruptcy, child abuse, and domestic violence related to gambling. Research shows that children of gambling addicts experience lower levels of mental health and physical well-being.
Lotteries are a highly addictive form of gambling. The final report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission documents strong links between gambling addiction and crime, homelessness, child abuse and neglect, bankruptcy, divorce, and not to mention poor performance at work and school.
A 1997 investigation by Mother Jones magazine found that the gambling industry had spent in excess of $100 million in political contributions and lobbying fees in the previous five years in an attempt to influence state governments. (Martin Koughan, "Easy Money." Mother Jones, July/August 1997, p. 35)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Dr. Daniel Suits, an economist and statistician at Michigan State University, computerd that a person has as much chance of winning the New York lottery as they do of being struck by lightning three times in one day and then walking outside and bumping into four strangers who share their same birthday! (Dr. James Kennedy's sermon, "What's Wrong with Gambling?")
Adolescent Gambling
Massachusetts state law prohibiting lottery play by minors is ineffective. A 1994 survey conducted by the state's attorney general found minors as young as 9 years old were able to purchase lottery tickets on 80% of their attempts. (Scott Harshbarger, AG, "Report on the Sale of Lottery Tickets to Minors in Mass," July 1994, pp. 3-4)
Other surveys show the percent of adolescents that play the lottery in: Louisiana (32%); Texas (34%); and Connecticut (35%). A survey published by Journal of Gambling Studies found that a 16-year old girl was able to purchase a lottery ticket from 49 to 50 central Illinois lottery retailers. (Joe Gyan, "More Louisiana Youths Try Gambling than Drugs," Baton Rouge, LA, Advocate, August 8, 1997; Lynn Wallisch, "Gambling in Texas: 1995 Surveys of Adults and Adolescent Gambling Behavior," Texas Commission of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, August 8, 1996, p. 78; Lyn Bixyb, "Lottery Pitch Seen as Luring Kids," Hartford Courant, October 23, 1997, p. A4; Thomas Radecki, "The Sales of Lottery Tickets to Minors in Illinois," Journal of Gambling Studies, vol. 10, no. 3, 1994, p. 213)
Twenty percent of gambling addicts attempt suicide. A 16-year old New Jersey boy slashed his wrists after losing $6,000 on lottery tickets — his entire savings from a newspaper delivery route. (www.family.org — A Lottery Education)
Duke University professors Charles Clotfelter and Philip Cook found that high school dropouts spend four times as much as college graduates on lotteries (www.family.org — A Lottery Education)
Ronald Reno, Senior Research Analyst in the Department of Legislature and Cultural Affairs at Focus on the Family, said, "A state lottery would provide quite a learning experience for Alabama's schoolchildren. Unfortunately, it will take far more than four years of college to undo the damages of a lottery education." (www.family.org — A Lottery Education)
Internet Coming to Schools Despite Failure of Lottery
Governor Don Siegelman of Alabama said that his goal before he leaves office is to make Alabama one of the top 10 states in America for technology despite the failure of a lottery. He plans a giant leap to take modern computers, technology, and broadband Internet access to all students within the next three years. He plans to finance it with $9 million of state money which will parlay into $20 million or more in federal matching money. (The Decatur Daily, December 4, 2000)
