Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991                   TAG: 9102140475
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

BILL TO CUT PRIZES IN LOTTERY STUDIED

The House of Delegates bill would increase the state's share of lottery revenue from 35 percent to 40 percent for a year, with the extra money going to localities to pay for schools and roads. The rest of lottery revenue goes for prizes and administration.

The bill's sponsor, Del. Mitchell Van Yahres, D-Charlottesville, said the bill would produce needed revenue for localities hit hard by state funding cuts. But lottery officials said reducing prize money would cut ticket sales and leave the state even more in the hole.

Gov. Douglas Wilder is counting on $535 million in projected lottery profits to ease the $2.2 billion shortfall in the 1990-92 budget. Lottery profits have risen steadily since the games began in 1988.

Finance Committee members wondered whether Van Yahres' bill would kill the goose that laid the golden lottery egg, or at least wring its neck a bit.

"We're probably making him squawk a little bit," Van Yahres conceded. But he said the bill would produce $40 million for localities.

Lottery Director Kenneth W. Thorson countered that the bill could cut lottery profits by $60 million by reducing sales. The higher the jackpot for the twice-weekly Lotto game, the higher the ticket sales, he said.

If the bill were in effect, this week's Lotto jackpot would be $7.2 million instead of $8 million, he said.

Sen. Dudley J. Emick Jr., D-Fincastle, said lottery players would feel betrayed if prizes were lowered.

"The media is going to treat us as filling a hole in the budget by picking on the suckers," he said.

"Anybody who plays the lottery falls into that category," said Van Yahres, a lottery opponent.

"A sucker?" asked committee Chairman Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton.

"Yes, sir," Van Yahres said.

Sen. Howard P. Anderson, D-Halifax, said players might complain about smaller prizes but they would still buy tickets. He suggested that the state's share could be increased 3 percent instead of 5 percent.

Andrews told the committee staff to study how the bill would affect the budget. The committee must act on the bill by Monday.

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