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Monday, February 24, 1997

Most Texans think lottery is good way for state to raise money

By VIVIENNE HEINES and ANNA M. TINSLEY

Harte-Hanks Texas Poll Syndicate

Copyright 1997 Harte-Hanks Communications

Three of four Texans believe the Lottery is a good way for the state to raise money and a majority want the funds used exclusively for public education, according to The Harte-Hanks Texas Poll.

No matter where the money is put, Texans like to play the Lottery. Nearly three-fourths played Texas Lottery games in the past year - and 23 percent spent more than $10 a month on the game of chance.

Seventy-six percent of Texans believe the Lottery is a good way for the state to raise money.

"There's no question that the Texas Lottery is the most successful state lottery in the country and is contributing more than a billion dollars a year to state coffers," said Kelly Fero, a spokesman for the State Comptroller's Office.

But where and how that money is distributed has been the subject of debate since the Lottery began in Texas in 1992.

Lottery funds are currently put into the general fund, which is distributed to services such as public education, public safety, and health and human services.

State lawmakers are debating whether lottery money should still be routed to the general fund or be used solely for education. Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock and Gov. George W. Bush support moving the money to education.

A majority of Texans agree.

Fifty-nine percent say lottery money should be used exclusively for public education, while 35 percent say it should remain in the general fund.

Supporters of the current system say the amount of money varies too much to use as a primary source of education funding.

With each $1 lottery ticket sale, 5 cents goes to the merchant as commission and as much as 10 cents goes to cover administrative costs. The rest of the dollar is split between prize money and the state's general fund, Texas Lottery spokesman Steve Levine said.

Dedicating lottery funds solely to education doesn't mean schools will get more money because it decreases the money dedicated to education from general revenue, state officials say.

"It's a shell game," said state Rep. Rob Junell, a San Angelo Democrat who heads the House Appropriations Committee. "And I think it's bad public policy."

Bullock believes that it's a way to give Texans what they want.

"That's where (Bullock) believes the people of Texas want it to go," spokesman Mike Hailey said. "It would not mean an increase in funding for public education, but it would guarantee that money would be there for public schools if ... there was a slump in the economy."

State Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Benavides, is one of a handful of lawmakers who want to dedicate lottery funds to education. Raymond filed legislation to let Texans vote this year on a constitutional amendment to shift the funds.

But officials with anti-gambling groups say that dedicating Lottery money to education is bad policy.

"The public perception is that if we just dedicate all this money to education, we don't need to give any other money for education," said Richard Blankenship, spokesman for Texans Against Gambling, a Dallas-based non-profit group that opposes gambling.

"The reason why the Texas Legislature didn't write the initial lottery bill dedicating the money to education is they looked at California and Florida, states of a similar size who dedicated the money to education. They found out over a period of time that they actually had less money for education."

The lottery has raised $4.4 billion since it was approved by Texas voters in 1991, Levine said. Annual revenue is about $1.1 billion.

Bush has presented lawmakers with a plan to cut school property taxes for Texans, which includes moving lottery revenue to a new Texas School Trust Fund.

Bush outlined his plan during his State of State speech last month and said he wants to put lottery revenue, plus money raised from a half-cent sales tax and business replacement tax, into the fund. That money would reimburse local school districts that lose revenue because of property tax cuts, he said.

"The governor hopes to reclaim the public trust for the state government," Bush spokesman Ray Sullivan said. "Most people believe the lottery was sold as a way to help education and they feel like they were misled a little bit."

In 1991, then-Gov. Ann Richards told voters in a televised address the day before the lottery was approved that if they wanted good schools, they could choose between a lottery or "a huge tax bill."

In some states like California, lottery funds are dedicated to help fund education in general. In Florida, lottery funds were originally dedicated to improvements in education.

The Florida lottery was begun in 1988, with legislation written to designate the funds for education "enhancement," said Angie Raines, Florida Lottery Commission spokesman in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Florida lottery has raised more than $7 billion for education, but when the state went through some budget cuts, lottery dollars began to be used for basic education needs, Raines said.

"It was hoped that this lottery money would be extra money, that education would have all its needs paid for and this would just be enhancement monies," Raines said. "Now the lottery money is given directly to the school districts. They get to decide if they need an enhancement, or if they need to pay for basic needs."

States often sell lotteries as a painless substitute for taxes, and a way to raise money for good causes like education. Some critics claim that states with lotteries collect more in taxes and spend less on schools than states without lotteries.

But that hasn't stopped Texans from playing the game.

Seventy-three percent have played Lottery games in the past year and 27 percent haven't. That's consistent with the Fall 1995 Texas Poll where 74 percent of Texans played the Lottery and 26 percent didn't.

Of those who played in the past year, 23 percent spent more than $10 a month.

Age may impact who plays the lottery. Eighty-one percent of those aged 50-59 played the lottery last year, while 56 percent of those aged 60-94 played.

Also, 80 percent of Hispanics played while 72 percent of Anglos and 70 percent of blacks played. Also, more men - 79 percent - played than women, 69 percent.

Younger Texans and Hispanics are most likely to think the lottery is a good way to raise money. Eighty-six percent of Hispanics believe the lottery is a good way to raise state monies, compared with 75 percent of whites and 73 percent of blacks.

Texans aged 60-94 are also least likely to believe the lottery is a good source of revenue - 61 percent - compared with 84 percent of 18-29 year olds.

The poll, conducted Feb. 3-15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The Office of Survey Research of the University of Texas at Austin surveyed 998 adult Texans for Harte-Hanks Communications Inc. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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