{"id":3523,"date":"2012-01-10T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=3523"},"modified":"2012-01-10T11:46:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-10T17:46:00","slug":"is-oklahoma-lotterys-education-requirement-restricting-revenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/01\/10\/is-oklahoma-lotterys-education-requirement-restricting-revenue\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Oklahoma Lottery’s Education Requirement Restricting Revenue?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tim Boyle \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Oklahoma and 32 other states are members of the Multi-State Lottery Association, the organization behind Powerball.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Oklahoma\u2019s lottery was approved by voters through a pair of state questions in 2004\u2019s general election ballot.<\/p>

Thirty-five percent of lottery revenues are earmarked for education.<\/p>

In 2004, then-State Finance Director Scott Meacham estimated the lottery would bring in about $150 million a year for public schools and colleges.<\/p>

The lottery has yet to raise half that amount.<\/p>

Could the current guaranteed education percentage actually mean less<\/em> lottery money is going to education?<\/p>

Jim Scroggins, executive director of the state Lottery Commission, says yes.<\/p>

The state lottery generates about $70 million each year for education. The Oklahoman<\/em>\u2019s Megan Rolland recently asked the question<\/a>: \u201cWhat happened to the lottery funds?\u201d<\/p>

The growth of the lottery is restricted by its education requirement, Scroggins told the paper.<\/p>

The argument goes like this:<\/p>

Lottery revenue is generated by ticket revenues. Bigger prizes attract more players, which means more ticket sales. Increased ticket sales brings more revenue, which means more money for schools.<\/p>

But increasing prizes isn\u2019t so easy, Scroggins told The Oklahoman<\/em>. Once education gets its 35 percent and operating expenses are covered, there isn\u2019t enough money left to increase the size of the prize pot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Oklahoma Lottery Commission<\/p>\n

Oklahoma's lottery includes revenue from "scratcher" games like Oklahoma Hold 'Em.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Of course there are other ways to increase ticket revenue.<\/p>

One way: Make more winners, which the multi-state Powerball authority hopes to do by bettering the odds<\/a> of winning.<\/p>

Another way to increase ticket revenue? Raise the ticket price. The Powerball organization<\/a> is doing that, too, though Scroggins debated the wisdom of that to The Oklahoman<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was just the wrong time to be doing it because of the economy,\u201d Scroggins said. \u201cBut I was outvoted. I think it has the potential to be a good decision.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

<\/em>Starting Jan. 15, Powerball tickets will increase to $2 from $1.<\/p>

Meanwhile, Rolland reports, education funds from tribal gaming are filling in where lottery revenues have fallen short.<\/p>\n

Fees charged to tribal gaming operations brought in about $416 million during the past six years specifically for education as well as funding for the general fund and gambling addition programs, according to the Office of State Finance.<\/p>

All of that funding went directly to common education.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma\u2019s lottery was approved by voters through a pair of state questions in 2004\u2019s general election ballot.Thirty-five percent of lottery revenues are earmarked for education.In 2004, then-State Finance Director Scott Meacham estimated the lottery would bring in about $150 million a year for public schools and colleges.The lottery has yet to raise half that amount.Could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[855,261,40,260,39],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}