Louisiana Lottery President Rose Hudson and New Hampshire Lottery Executive Director Charlie McIntyre recently met with Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s lottery advisory council to share advice about starting a statewide lottery. Bentley created the council in October after his plan for generating additional revenue through a lottery died during a special legislative session this summer.
Alabama is one of six states without a lottery. The legislature would have to pass a proposed constitutional amendment that would be subject to approval by voters to establish a lottery. Both Louisiana and New Hampshire have had lotteries for decades to provide funds for public education. New Hampshire’s lottery began in 1964, the first in the U.S., and Louisiana’s started in 1990 .
Hudson advised council members not to write too narrow a definition of a lottery, since that could make it difficult to add future versions of the games, like online play. In the last legislative session, the House added an amendment by state Rep. Connie Rowe, an advisory council member, essentially defining a lottery in the traditional version of paper tickets with a series of numbers that can allow the holder to win in a daily, weekly or monthly drawing. The definition also allowed for instant scratch-off tickets. The bill passed the House but senators opposed the amendment and killed the bill.
Hudson noted, “That definition may not cut the mustard and would keep you out of the game.” He added, “I would say sweat the details, but sweat the details at the correct level. That is, do it at the front end.”
Rowe said polls showed most Alabamians, including those in her district, want to be able to vote on a lottery. “We do not need to do something down here that is a misrepresentation of what our people back in our districts believe we’re down here voting on. If we don’t have a definition that clearly defines that, it can just shape-shift into some really interesting things that could be well beyond what the constituency that I represent had in mind,” she said.
Lottery revenue declined in 27 states in 2014-2015, according to a report by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. However, revenue grew in lotteries in southeastern states from 2008 to 2015.
In Louisiana, total lottery sales hit an all-time record of $507 million in fiscal year 2016. Lottery sales have increased yearly every year except one since 2007, when sales were $354 million. In 2004 Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring for each dollar in lottery sales, 53 cents be returned to players in winnings, and 35 percent directed to K-12 education.
In New Hampshire, adjusted gross lottery revenue rose in nine of the years between 2000 and 2015, when it increased slightly to $283 million. That netted $74 million for education, which receives 26 percent of lottery revenue, with 62 percent paid out in prizes.
