Lottery breaks record: Is more gaming on the way?

When Georgia sold its first lottery ticket to then Gov. Zell Miller on June 29, 1993, there were many predictions — some good, some bad and some dire. Twenty-three years later, the program that provides for the state’s pre-kindergarten program and HOPE scholarships for college students is still going strong. Wednesday, Gov. Nathan Deal announced the lottery raised about $1.1 billion on ticket sales of $4.55 billion and exceeded the profits of 2015 by more than $117 million.

When Miller first proposed the lottery and before the constitutional amendment allowing it was sent to voters in November 1992, the direction of the proceeds, according to the book, “Signed, Sealed, and Delived: Highlights of the Miller Record,” were already clear. The lottery would be on a separate funding track with expenditures only going to pre-K, technology capital outlays and scholarships.

There were already 35 state lotteries and most had seen a drop in ticket sales after the initial year. Lottery money in those states was tossed in with the general fund and many times just subplanted existing education funding. Miller did not want to see a repeat of that error. Ticket sales in Georgia grew in its second year and have continued to grow.

When asked what was Georgia lottery’s secret, Rebecca Paul, then Georgia Lottery president, said, “You can’t really go anywhere in Georgia and not see what the lottery has done. You live in a neighborhood where children are in prekindergarten classes or on HOPE scholarships at colleges and technical institutes. You go to your child’s school and see new computers boaught by the lottery. So when a Georgia parent goes into a convenience store and puts down a $20 bill for $18 worth of gas, they more than likely will take that extra $2 and buy lottery tickets to support these programs.”

Though there was a hitch in 2007 with adjustments, the lottery has continued to grow. In just the past five years, the lottery’s profits have grown from $901.3 million to $1.1 billion. The lottery’s president is Debbie Alford and, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report, Gov. Deal challenged her in 2012 when she took the job to break the $1 billion in profit mark. The Georgia Lottery started online and instant games, plus there were huge national lotteries.

Now that the $1 billion mark has been broken, will this embolden lawmakers to consider opening up the state to more gaming? The issue was briefly discussed last session for Atlanta and Savannah and most likely will come up in the 2017 session. The gaming industry has already pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into campaign coffers. But there are other considerations that should stay top-of-mind as lawmakers decide if casinos should be allowed anywhere in the state.

The lottery is a known commodity. How much of the profits are they willing to risk by allowing competition. Certainly the proposed 20 percent tax rate on casino profits would mitigate some of the losses — but certainly there would be lottery losses. With the General Assembly’s habit of attacking education at every turn it’s almost a certainty that any loss of lottery proceeds would not be made up by gaming profits, even though the original proposal had an education spin to it.

For Middle Georgians another question comes to mind. While Savannah and Atlanta are obvious locations for casinos, one of the original proposals kicked around in 2015 would have divided the state into five zones, but no more than six casinos total allowed in the state. The question: Should Middle Georgia raise its hand for one?

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Lottery breaks record: Is more gaming on the way?."