Last week an audit of the Arkansas Lottery found a number of deficiencies in the Arkansas Lottery’s operation. Many of these deficiencies probably could have been avoided had the enabling legislation that gave us a lottery been written more clearly.
It’s easy to forget, but less than two years ago we testified at the Capitol building, saying the enabling legislation that created our lottery needed to be improved before it could be passed. The Lottery Commission needed to be more closely monitored; the Legislative Oversight Committee needed more authority; and the lottery’s conduct and operation should have been more clearly defined. The response many lawmakers gave was that “you can’t tie the hands of the Commission.” Some even testified that the legislation would give us the best lottery in the nation. That, sadly, has not been the case, and the findings of this audit are just one more shortcoming in a long string of lottery disappointments.
Jason Tolbert at TolbertReport.com has posted some good videos pertaining to the subject. The first is footage of Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue immediately after the joint audit meeting; the second is a video of lawmakers reacting to the joint audit committee’s findings.
