ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
Virginia won't have a new keno lottery game any time before 2000, and not even then without the approval of state lawmakers, the director of the Virginia Lottery said Tuesday.
Gambling opponents were cheered that state officials rejected a game considered more alluring and addictive than anything the lottery offers today.
But with keno's demise came a prediction that the Virginia Lottery can no longer turn the dazzling profits of the past. Director Penelope Kyle said the lottery will make a $342 million profit in the next fiscal year - and the same profit every year thereafter.
``I think the governor and the General Assembly will let us know if they need more money. I'm just going to sit back and wait for them to tell me,'' Kyle said during a news conference at lottery headquarters.
``There's always that four-letter word - keno - out there. If that revenue is needed, keno is always available.
``But otherwise, our games are maturing. Our revenues are going to flatten out.''
First proposed by Gov. George Allen last year, keno could have added $17 million or more to the lottery's annual profit. But the game - similar to a regular numbers game but with drawings every five minutes - troubled many legislators who saw it as casino gambling in disguise.
Even though efforts to pass a law banning keno failed in 1996, Kyle knew the General Assembly's opposition had not evaporated. And Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, has a bill pending that would take the additional step of banning the game in the state.
``She's being responsible by laying it on the line and saying `look, we're not going to grow from here without these new games,''' said Sen. John Chichester, a Fredericksburg Republican and co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
``I'm not disturbed by that at all, because I don't think the lottery is something you want to make grow every year anyway. I don't really want to have a drawing every few minutes just to increase sales.''
Any unwillingness to implement new lottery games could imperil hopes of building a stadium for a Major League Baseball team in Northern Virginia. Kyle said legislators are ``less enthusiastic'' about using lottery money to build a baseball stadium knowing that lottery profits have leveled off.
And the lottery's financial standing could worsen, Kyle said, because North Carolina's efforts to approve a state lottery have gained strength. North Carolina residents account for about 8 percent of Virginia's lottery sales - roughly $25 million a year in profits.
The pressure created by lagging revenue and the desire among some lawmakers to finance new projects with lottery money could revive discussions about keno some day, Kyle said. But if keno comes back, it will have to come from the General Assembly, not lottery officials.
``There is talk out there that we ought not be relying more and more on lottery revenues - I hear it, I'm sure they hear it,'' she said. ``That's not my decision. They'll have to make that decision.''
Other changes to the Virginia Lottery are under consideration.
A bill before the legislature would require printing a toll-free number on all lottery tickets to offer counseling for gambling addicts. Its success will likely hinge on finding a company or agency that can provide that counseling free.
Several new games are also expected within the lottery's current structure, including $3 and $5 scratch-off tickets.
And the lottery plans by next fall to allow scratch-ticket winners to cash winning tickets at any lottery retailer, not just at the place of purchase or lottery offices.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB