Last spring we wrote a blog post called “10 Lottery Predictions That Came True.” It highlighted 10 things we said would happen if the Arkansas Lottery were established.
Last week we told you about a proposal to bring video lotteries to Arkansas. We predicted this back in 2009, when the Arkansas Lottery first set up shop. Below is a video we released at the time discussing this issue. Watch it, and see if what we predicted about the lottery is coming true.
Here’s some sad news: The State of Arkansas could get more money for college scholarships by raising the state sales tax four-tenths of a penny than it currently “generates” with the Arkansas Lottery.
According to reports on the Department of Finance and Administration’s website, the State of Arkansas has collected roughly $1.4 – 1.6 billion annually in sales taxes since 2010. The state sales tax is currently 6.5% — meaning for every dollar you spend at the store, the state charges six-and-a-half cents in sales tax.
In order to collect an additional $90 – $100 million — the amount of money lottery proponents promised Arkansas’ college students would receive — the State of Arkansas would need to charge a “whopping” four-tenths of a penny extra on each sales dollar, raising the tax rate from 6.5% to 6.9%.
Now, I am not advocating higher taxes. I think we are taxed enough as it is. But in 2009, if lawmakers had said, “We have to come up with an extra $100 million in college scholarships, and we can do it either by raising the state sales tax or by instituting a state-run lottery,” I would have told our lawmakers, “Raise the sales tax.”
Here are five reasons why: (more…)
Arkansas lawmakers heard a sales pitch yesterday for “monitor games” from lottery contractor Intralot.
Intralot is an international corporation based out of Greece; they supply the Arkansas Lottery with many of its games. “Monitor games” are lottery games much like the electronic gambling you would expect to see in a casino. They typically include bingo, keno, poker, and similar games.
According to Arkansas News Bureau, the presentation for monitor games was made to the lottery’s Legislative Oversight Committee, composed of lawmakers from both houses, on Tuesday. Intralot officials claim Arkansas would be a likely candidate for “bingo” style electronic games, and that the Arkansas Lottery could see an extra $18 million a year.
Here’s the problem: These machines are just one more step in a very long, predictable pattern from the Arkansas Lottery. Every time lottery ticket sales start to sag, the Lottery rolls out some new game or gimmick to keep people buying lottery tickets. We’ve seen it since 2009.