Bill Signed to Set Up Wisconsin State Lottery

A bill establishing a Wisconsin state lottery has been signed into law by Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, who said he hopes the first lottery tickets will be on sale by April.

“Anyone who runs for public office is a gambler at heart. I think I will buy a couple of lottery tickets, but not too many,” Thompson said Wednesday after signing the law.

Thompson vetoed a trust fund that would have received half the lottery profits for five years, then would have begun paying out money for tax relief. The governor said he will propose his own property tax relief plan in January and will decide then how lottery profits should be delivered to taxpayers.