The new Mississippi Lottery could start selling tickets later this year, said Mississippi Lottery Corporation board member Gerard Gibert. He said the board recently hired a law firm and will soon select a bank and hire a corporate president. In addition, the new lottery will apply to be able to offer Powerball and other multistate games that offer major prizes, hopefully early next year, he said.
The lottery was approved last August as a way to fund transportation needs. At the time, more than 430 local bridges were closed due to structural problems. The state transportation department has long said it needs hundreds of millions more dollars to repair roads and bridges.
Mississippi had been one of six states without a lottery. The lottery legislation was opposed by politically influential Baptist and Pentecostal groups. The state’s powerful casino lobby did not oppose the lottery but did oppose efforts to allow video lottery terminals in truck stops and other locations; that measure ultimately failed.
Governor Phil Bryant, elected in 2011 and 2015 with evangelical groups’ support, began promoting a lottery more than a year before legislators approved it. He pointed out every year Mississippi residents spend millions of dollars on lottery tickets bought in Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee.
