Joining a multi-state lottery could be key in Ohio’s plan to patch its state budget.
If the state legislature approves the bill, Gov. Bob Taft hopes the measure will earn Ohio $41 million of the $1.5 billion needed to fix the budget by June 2003.
Ohio ranks sixth nationally in total gross sales and fifth in total prizes, according to the Ohio Lottery. The largest jackpot was $54 million, on July 11, 2001.
Powerball, a multi-state lottery game, is played in 21 states, including Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. The money generated by each state through Powerball goes directly to the state selling the ticket.
Each state’s lottery keeps 50 cents of every $1 ticket, and the remaining 50 cents is used for the jackpot.
According to the Multi-State Lottery Association, the average payout for a Powerball game is $33 million. Tomorrow’s Powerball jackpot is $25 million, while Ohio’s Super Lotto Plus jackpot for that day is $12 million.
Ohio State students differ in opinion in whether they would buy more tickets because of a multi-state lottery.
“Lottery tickets are not a good seller in the university area,” Sam Shcayh said, an employee at the Shell Station, 15 E. Lane Ave.
“Students are not interested in it,” Shcayh said. “Maybe one out of 50 will buy one.”
“I probably wouldn’t buy them. I don’t buy lottery tickets now,” said Brooke Burns, a senior in English.
“When the jackpot is large, it would probably make me buy more,” said Jennifer Carroll, a senior is psychology.
“The main purchasers of tickets are area residents and not students, and a multi-state lottery jackpot would probably not change this,” Shcayh said.
Josh Krochmal, a junior in criminology, occasionally buys lottery tickets.
“If it’s high, and I’m around, I’ll pick one up,” Krochmal said.
However, a multi-state lottery would not make him purchase more tickets.
“The jackpot is higher, but so are the odds of winning,” he said.
House Bill 405, sponsored by Rep. Jon Peterson, R-Delaware, is in a conference committee after being amended by the Senate. Although the bill is about mental retardation and developmental disability services, the bill has a provision requiring Ohio to enter a multi-state lottery if the Governor instructs.
The Ohio Lottery began in 1974, and an amendment to the state constitution in 1987 made it so all lottery profits are used for education.
