State Lottery on the Rebound

SACRAMENTO — The state lottery is bouncing back from a slump with robust sales of a third more than last year, but the games must do even better for full recovery, officials said Monday.

“We have turned a corner” with an “amazing return in playership,” Lottery Director Sharon Sharp said at a business luncheon. But Sharp predicted that turning the games around would take 18 months, until next spring.

Lottery spokeswoman Joanne McNabb said a 31% increase, compared to this time last year, is largely attributable to large Lotto jackpots in July and early September and to the introduction of new computerized and scratch-off ticket games.

The slump in the 6-year-old lottery’s business was blamed primarily on the economy and marketing decisions. It produced a low of $1.35 billion in sales for fiscal 1991-92, down from a peak of $2.6 billion in 1988-89.

Public schools, which get at least 34% of sales revenue, received $497 million, or $77 per student last year. In the peak year, education was allocated more than $1 billion, or $178 per student.