Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Arkansas Lottery Arkansas lottery matures; what now?
Posted by Max Brantley on Wed, Sep 12, 2012 at 6:50 AM
That didn't take long. Arkansas started selling lottery tickets in September 2009 and three years later we have solid evidence — in a 7 percent drop in sales the last two months, according to an article in the Democrat-Gazette (pay wall) — of the inevitable maturing of the lottery.
The experience in every other state told us that, apart from population growth, percentage of free income is more or less unchanging. See Texas, to name one, where net lottery income has more or less been flat for nine years.
Unless you can find ways to encourage more people to separate themselves from more of their money, the growth arc of lotteries won't be great. Arkansas Lottery officials blame the economy and weather for the recent downturn, though there's some research that indicates hard times actually encourage desperate people to gamble more.
Whatever. The Arkansas Lottery can't count on exponential growth to expand the scholarship pool it finances, so legislators are figuring out ways to reallocate the money. This could mean future fights between two-year and four-year college students. One proposal would stairstep the money — more for each successive year along a degree path. This inevitably would favor those better able to pay in the first place, not simply those with better academic achievement. As the percentage of college costs paid by the lottery scholarships continues to decline, the likeliest dropouts will continue to have a high correlation with financial pressures.
Arkansas, like other states, will continue to search for ways to increase gambling. More marketing, more games. You can see why the dearly departed Ernie P. had an interest in keno and video lottery terminals. Illinois has even started online lottery ticket sales.
Speaking of Arkansas Lottery
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The Thursday night line: The rappelant Les Miles; lottery theft probe; Mark Martin's legal staff
May 30, 2013The line is open. Closing out: * LOTTERY THEFT: A reported investigation of a (former) Arkansas Lottery Commission employee for theft of lottery tickets is apparently nearing a conclusion. /more/
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Arkansas Supreme Court dismisses lottery trademark suit
May 30, 2013The Arkansas Supreme Court today issued a couple of rulings of note: * ARKANSAS LOTTERY: The Supreme Court ruled that the Arkansas Lottery Commission was entitled to soverign immunity from a lawsuit by Alpha Marketing, owned by Ed Dozier, that the state had infringed its trademark for the words Arkansas Lottery, Lottery Arkansas and Arkansas Lotto. /more/
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Good news for Arkansas lottery
May 16, 2013No winners of the big prize in yesterday's Powerball drawing, which means the jackpot Saturday will go to $475 million, which would be the second largest. /more/
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University of Arkansas Board to discuss tuition increases for 2013-14
May 13, 2013It's spring and that means it's time to increase tuition for the next college year. /more/
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Morning report: Ethics, gambling
April 30, 2013Of interest this morning: * YOU WANT ETHICS? TIM JACOBS WILL GIVE YOU SOME ETHICS: I wrote an item not long ago when Tim Jacob, a native Arkansan and national figure in the term limits movement, filed a proposed constitutional amendment to attempt to scare the legislature out of adopting a so-called ethics amendment that included weakening of term limits and a mechanism to raise legislative pay. /more/
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Thursday night line
April 11, 2013The Thursday night line is open. Final words: * THE MEAN STREETS OF LR AND THE MEAN LR COPS: The Guardian has taken another look at use of force by the Little Rock police force, with detailed reporting on pending legal actions over excessive force. /more/
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The Monday night line
March 25, 2013Open to you. Final notes: * QUICK CASH: The Arkansas Lottery said Linda Newsom of Mayflower won $2 million on a $20 “Lucky Lottery Ticket” purchased at the Mayflower Quick Mart. /more/
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