That’s one of the main arguments against it: no one seriously believes that there will be any money left over.
Well, that’s not really an issue this time since the money is devoted to a totally new program (college scholarships) which doesn’t currently exist.
Even if voters agree to change the state constitution to allow a lottery, that still doesn’t mean we’ll get one. The legislature will have to propose and approve a lottery, the governor will have to sign the bill, and given the glacial pace in which TN government functions, I ain’t holding my breath that it’ll happen any time soon.
If we do get a lottery, it will bring money into the state. Right now, people from TN travel to neighboring states to buy lottery tickets, if we have a lottery, people will travel here to buy tickets. Many of them will play not only in their home state, but here as well. While they’re here, at least some of them will buy things other than lottery tickets, which will increase revenues from sales taxes. Also, people passing through the state will buy tickets, which will add to the state’s coffers.
I would like to point out that the state had few financial problems when the members of the legislature were allowed to drink cans of Donald Duck orange juice spiked with vodka while in session. So in, TN, at least: Sober government = Bad Government.
Seems to me the outlay of the lottery proceeds is backward in all states. How can you expect a k-12 dropout or graduate who hasn’t learned to read, go to college? We are always hearing about the budget crunch in TN/GA education system.
How about building decent up-to-date schools for basic education and having a lottery for the remainder. We sure don’t see college students holding car-washes, etc to make money. Instead, they make gobs of money on the sports programs ticket sales.
I play the GA lotto - and don’t expect to win. Just a small glimmer of hope when i plunk down my 2 bucks. Hope Scholarship, Hope Scholarship is all we hear. Bunch of morons here think we can college educate kids that can’t read or write or do basic math.
There’s plenty of private grants or bank loans for those who think they have to go to higher education. Use lottery funds to pay and keep teachers of the children and to fund programs for these students.
All those chancellors and highhats make more money than they’re worth already. And all they do is go around asking for more money for a new program or building. When I see portable classrooms at colleges and university’s, i’ll shut up.
I saw both sides of this educational waste when i worked as a custodian. But the college waste takes the cake - hands down.
I posted the following in another thread (IMHO) but am copying it here (with some minor changes) - I hope I’m not committing some faux pas by doing this.
Why I’m against the lottery…
Schools should not be funded on gambling. (Yes, this is a personal opinion, but others do follow…)
Lotteries are horribly inefficient in funding. Less than 35% of the money spent on lotteries actually go to the programs that they are funding.
Most state governments tend to reduce the amount allocated towards school funding by the amount increased by the lottery. I did my econ senior thesis on this quite a while back and it was pretty blatant. For example, say you have a state that allocates $1 billion a year to education. The lottery comes in, giving another $500 mil. to education. The next year, the state will allocate $600 mil. to education, the lottery kicks in $500 mil. and your politicians will say “See? Education funding increased!”
Lotteries tend to be a wealth transfer from the poor to the rich. Lotto outlets (like liquor stores) are 3 times more common in poor neighborhoods, and the percentage of income spent on lotto tickets decreases as income rises.
Tennessee doesn’t even have an income tax. While some states don’t, that is usually because they have a special industry (like Florida and tourism) that can handle the difference. I’d much rather have an income tax to increase the quality of the states education system than a lottery: it’s more honest.
So we won’t tax the rich and middle-class, but we will tax the poor, and be remarkably deceitful and inefficient about it at the same time. Such a thing I cannot support.
IAC, it’s a bit of a moot point as it looks like it passed.
[quote]
Lottery proposal easily wins approval (updated 11:16 p.m.)
Yes 876,346
No 646,904
Gawd-freakin-dammit!
Not that anyone particularly cares, but there was a measure to implement a lottery in North Dakota during this election cycle. It passed here 67-33. Here there wasn’t even a reason for it. People seem to want to have a lottery just for the hell of it.
Not that anyone particularly cares, but there was a measure to implement a lottery in North Dakota during this election cycle. It passed here 67-33. Here there wasn’t even a reason for it. People seem to want to have a lottery just for the hell of it.
RED MENACE: why does anybody live in N Dakota? I’m surprised there would be much point in having a state lottery, since there are so few inhabitants! Why don’t you guys make a deal with massachusetts-and allow N Dakota to sell MA lottery tickets…we’ll cut you in for a few percent!
Raplhp124c, I grew up in North Dakota dammit!!! I take great insult at your remarks!!!
Um, wait, I moved out as soon as possible…
Nevermind… 
Oh, well, nobody ever accused the TN voters of being the most thoughtful in the world. Maybe it’s because our schools are so bad.
Shelby County, which includes Memphis and is one of the most economically troubled counties in the state, voted for the lottery by a margin of over 2-1. Maybe I should drive down and thank them for sending my white upper-middle-class kids to college, even though I voted against it.
Naw, we’re doing just fine for money anyway. I’d mention how many federal dollars this state takes in for how much money it sends out, but then everyone would want to live in North Dakota (ha ha ha). Honestly though, it is a beautiful state with no crime and extremely cheap living. Plus, there’s no better way to prove your Nordic toughness than to walk around in windchills of -50 F. Won’t keep me here after I graduate though, I can tell you that.
Back to the actual topic at hand, I think the ND lottery vote may have been less about any interest in raising any money and more about rolling back the last of our morality laws. (We were the last state to get rid of blue laws, which required businesses to close on Sundays). Interestingly, this lottery thing has been defeated in North Dakota many times before, often by wide margins, so I’m not sure why it passed with so much support this time.
But with so few inhabitants in North Dakota, your chances of winning the lottery improve!
Personally, I think when civilizations of the future look back on the “tax through lottery” stage, they will giggle.
The origins of the adoption of lotteries, casinos and other games of chance the last few decades has usually not been motivitated by a desire or need for increased tax revenue per se.
It’s usually the individuals and companies that will provide the tickets, the gaming devices etc that put a bug in the politicians ear concerning it. There’s a ready demand for these things, as many like to gamble.
The other proponents who are needed to pass such legislation are the recepients of the money and that’s the only reason they are brought into the issue.
Let me put this another way: It can’t hurt, unless politicians steal all the money. SInce that is always a possibility in Tennessee, and this referendum was simply to amend the COnstitution to allow for the possibility of the lottery, I’d say your fears are misplaced. Tennessee’s so far behind the better states I’ll take anything that improves education.
In any event, it at least distances the money from the legislature, as opposed to an income tax (most people in tennessee wouldn’t trust the government with a nickel, much less an income tax).