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Lottery bill will expected to increase profits from instant tickets

Lottery bill will expected to increase profits from instant tickets

HARRISBURG — The governor is expected to sign a bill intended to allow the Pennsylvania Lottery to maximize its profits by meeting increased demand for high-payout instant tickets.

A law requires the lottery to dedicate no less than 27 percent of revenue from ticket sales to programs for senior citizens, but most of the lottery’s sales growth is in scratch-off tickets, which return less money to the state than do terminal-based games such as the Daily Number. This shift has driven down the state’s percentage take of revenue from ticket sales.

The Department of Revenue asked for authorization to return only 25 percent of ticket revenue to programs, arguing that narrowing the state’s slice of the revenue pie would allow the pie to grow, resulting in a larger slice.

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Legislators agreed, voting for the change last week in the Senate, 48-0, and on Monday in the House, 195-1. Gov. Tom Corbett is expected to sign the bill.

The measure also specifies that the state cannot implement keno, a numbers-based game with frequent drawings, without the General Assembly’s authorization.

Earlier in his term, Mr. Corbett attempted to hire Camelot Global Services, which operates the United Kingdom’s lottery, to manage the Pennsylvania lottery.

Camelot had committed to bringing in more than $34 billion in profits over the life of a 20-year agreement, in part by introducing online ticket sales and keno, but state Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced in February 2013 her office had found the contract would violate state law, in part, she said, because it would infringe on the authority of the General Assembly to make policy.

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First Published: October 21, 2014, 4:00 a.m.

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