Perry Not Alone In Plan To Sell State Lottery

Monday, May 07, 2007 posted 10:24 AM EDT

(AUSTIN, TX) The next Texas lottery winner could take home $37 million.

That's chump change compared to the big jackpot Governor Rick Perry hopes the Lone Star State could pocket.

"Conservative estimates tell us that the state lottery could be sold to the private sector for at least $14 billion," Perry said.

Perry says selling or leasing the lottery to a private company would mean fast cash -- money that could be used to create trusts for public education, cancer research, and health care for the poor.

"If we delay, the market price is likely to be substantially less in the years to come," Perry

says. "But if we act now, we can invest in our classrooms, our laboratories, our hospitals."

Illinois is looking to cash in on their lottery before profit margins dwindle. The governor there hopes investors will give them at least $10 billion now -- in exchange for 75 years of lottery revenue.

But skeptics say states are selling out their future for a financial quick fix.

"You could imagine all sorts of good investments," said University of Chicago Law School Dean Saul Levmore. "But you can also imagine that politicians would get their hands on the money and just spend it -- and then the future revenue stream would be gone."

Leveraging their lotteries is just the latest privatization idea by cash-strapped governments. Last year, Indiana leased a 157-mile toll road to foreign investors.

Texas lottery player Dave Williamson says it's all fine with him -- if it saves him from paying more taxes.

"We're selling our roads to private entities to rent toll roads, why not the lottery?" asks Dave Williamson. "I think it's worth looking into."

It's a gamble that some states appear willing to take.

Related Links
	Lottery News & Stories
	Texas Lottery Results
	Search Past Texas Lottery Winning Numbers