Despite deficit, lottery DOA

Last week's column on the nonexistent chance that Nevada lawmakers will implement a state lottery drew dozens of comments, phone calls and e-mails from readers.

Only one caller was adamantly opposed to the lottery idea.

My straw poll showed average citizens want the Legislature to debate the concept.

Sorry, it's not going to happen.

There are 43 states with lotteries. Wyoming doesn't have a lottery but lawmakers took steps recently toward approving a plan. Nevada won't follow along.

I wasn't endorsing a lottery, just questioning why the issue is dead on arrival at the Nevada Legislature.

The state has a severe budget deficit. K-12 education and the university system are facing millions of dollars in cuts. Some think state lottery revenues would help.

One gaming industry insider said lotteries are bad public policy. They won't raise the revenues promised. In lottery states, money targeted for education is often moved to other line items.

Only Georgia, which created a lottery in 1992, has kept the original intentions.

Since its inception, the Georgia lottery had given $12.3 billion to public education.

A scholarship program funded by the lottery benefits Georgia high school graduates who attend college in the state. (Are you reading this Nevada's troubled Millennium Scholarship Program supporters?)

Georgia's lottery laws are ironclad. The funds must go to education.

In fiscal 2010, Georgia's lottery had $3.6 billion in sales. The state is void of casinos or racetracks, although gaming options are in neighboring Alabama and Florida.

Lotteries and casinos co-exist in many states, including markets where Nevada's largest gaming companies operate.

In Michigan last year, MGM Resorts International's MGM Grand Detroit collected $581.8 million in revenue. The state lottery had $2.3 billion in sales in fiscal 2010.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. owns casinos in nine states with lotteries. Last week, the company broke ground on two Ohio casinos, a state with lottery sales of $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year.

Even Boyd Gaming Corp., which is vehemently opposed to a Nevada lottery, operates casinos in Indiana, Illinois and Louisiana, all lottery markets.

Gaming leaders don't like the comparison. The lotteries were in place before casinos and the gaming markets are not wide open like Nevada.

Boyd and Station Casinos are against a lottery because of competition. With the economy recovering, the locals casinos market wants the monopoly on discretionary spending.

It doesn't matter. The issue is dead on arrival.

Howard Stutz's Inside Gaming column appears Sundays. He can be reached at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. He blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/stutz.