Panel Votes to Confirm State Lottery Director
With their attention diverted by a $10.7-billion budget shortfall, members of the Senate Rules Committee took only a few minutes Wednesday to decide they would recommend the confirmation of State Lottery Director Sharon Sharp.
Only one committee member, state Sen. Nicholas Petris (D-Oakland), questioned Sharp about a $700-million drop in lottery sales during the fiscal year ending June 30.
Observing that Sharp’s predecessor, Chon Gutierrez, had been fired because of slumping sales, Petris asked: “Have sales continued to drop under your stewardship?”
Sharp replied that they had and predicted it would take another year before they would rebound to former levels. “It is very difficult to turn around a lottery once it has started to fall,” she said.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend her confirmation to the full Senate.
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