Voters and Lottery Bet

How successful the California Lottery is depends on how you measure “success” [“Hitting the Jackpot,” Nov. 11].

California may rank near the top of the nation’s 38 lotteries in total dollar sales, but it’s near the bottom in terms of how efficiently it spends those dollars. The 1984 Lottery Act built in a 16% cushion to cover “administrative expenses,” allowing California to spend a larger percentage of the money it generates on overhead costs than virtually any other state. As your graphic noted, the Ohio and Florida lotteries have sales nearly identical to California’s, yet their overhead costs hover around only 10%.

Reversing the form of his predecessors, who stonewalled legislative efforts to shrink the lottery’s overhead cushion, new Lottery Director William Popejoy has taken a major step forward by moving to cut administrative expenses by 2.5% over the next two years. However, regardless of overhead costs, California voters should look at who really benefits from the lottery. Is it the schools that get less than 3% of their funding from lottery sales, or is it the lottery contractors that make money hand over fist selling the “Who’s Next?” fantasy to people trying to beat 18-million-to-1 odds?

DEBRA BOWEN

Assemblywoman

(D-Torrance)