The Lottery In Wyoming

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Lottery in Wyoming Wyoming is one of only six states in America to not have a lottery in place. The proposition of bill 170 will change just that. By adding the lottery to Wyoming the state would add a great source of income, and help to boost the economy. Approximately eleven million dollars a year would be put back into Wyoming’s economy. The lottery has been turned down in the past because the legislators feared it would cost the state money. That the cost of starting the game and keeping it running would end up being taken out of tax payer’s hands. It was thought that the lottery would not bring any revenue but rather cost the state and the people living here money. It was also thought that having the government control the lottery wasn’t…show more content…
However, there were still some questions about how the lottery would be wrapped up into the one horse racing company in Wyoming. The bill proposes that Wyoming Downs, the one horse racing place in Wyoming, would pay one million dollars to have video gambling games installed. This would supply the money needed to start a state wide lottery or to get Wyoming to join into a multi-state lottery, such as the power ball. This money would guarantee that the state would not lose money by starting the lottery. In 2007, state lawmakers rejected a multi-state lottery bill, because of fears that the lottery would lose money in such a low populated state. Eric Spector, president and CEO of Wyoming Downs, said “the machines would have generated about $12 million a year for the Hathaway program and around $2 million to help pay for the statewide lottery”. This bill was also expected to gain about eleven million dollars each year from the just the lottery. Wallis stated that “I really thought this was a win-win situation for everyone.” The money was even going to a good cause, the expected eleven million dollars per year was going to help fund the Hathaway scholarship. The scholarship, intended to give money to all qualifiers to attend a Wyoming school, is slowly losing money. The money gained by the lottery bill would greatly help the fund. Many people believe that the lottery is an evil that Wyoming doesn’t need. However this was…show more content…
Jarred miller. Tuesday, February 10, 2009 9:02 PM. http://www.casperstartribune.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/wyoming/b6d6fd8efdad1df28725755a00098d27.txt State of Wyoming Bill No. HB0170. http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2009/Introduced/HB0170.pdf Wyoming Lottery for Education Act – Bill Explanation
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