Virginia Capitol Connections Winter 2019

Virginia’s Lottery: Where did it come from and where does the money go? By DeForrest Ballou The lottery in Virginia is nothing new.

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The Virginia Company of London was granted a charter to establish colonies overseas by King James I, in 1606. One of the ways theVirginia Company raised money was through a game where citizens could buy tickets for prizes, called a “lottery.” In the past, lotteries were a form of painless taxation. A game where the real thrill was the small chance of winning. Today, the Virginia Lottery serves the

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same purpose. From Powerball to scratchers, every time we buy a ticket, we help the children that attend public schools in the state. “By selling tickets we generate profits—and in that way the lottery is—it runs very much along the lines of a business,” said John Hagerty, spokesperson for the Virginia Lottery, “—in creating a product, marketing a product, selling a product, and in doing so, raising a profit,” The Virginia Lottery was created in 1987, and the money raised, early on, went to capital projects. Then in 1999, theVirginia constitution was amended. “In the business world, profits would go to shareholders. For the lottery, all profits, by law, go to K-12 education,” said Hagerty. While theVirginia Lottery handles the business end of lottery, they have no control over where the money is dispersed. That is determined by a formula used by Virginia’s Appropriations Committee in the General Assembly and the state’s Department of Education. Summed up, the goal for everyone is to maintain a 40 percent threshold. That is, 40 percent of all money gained from the Virginia Lottery goes toward public education. The rest goes toward maintaining the lottery system. “The biggest challenge you have is, you have to apply state policy and state education legislation to school systems as small as Highland County, of the 132 school systems, to a school system as large as Fairfax County,” said Delegate Steve Landes (R-25th). Landes is Chairman of the House Education Committee and Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He said the formula in place is more than 50 years old. “It’s based on who plays the game and based on those criteria that partly run through the funding formula,” said Landes. TheVirginia Lottery generates nine percent of the public education budget and while the more games Virginians play, the more money goes to those youths in public education. TheVirginia Lottery understands that the games it offers are a form of gambling. They take pains to tell players to play responsibly, and they always offer resources for those who may need help. If you think a family member has become a problem gambler, call the Virginia

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problem gambling helpline, toll-free, at 888-532-3500. DeForrest Ballou is a student editor attending VCU.

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