Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has fired the private company that is running the Illinois Lottery. According to today’s Chicago Tribune, the company, Northstar Lottery Group, missed its profit commitment, i.e., the money going to the state by $242 million for fiscal year 2014. For the three years Northstar has run the lottery, it has missed its targets by $480 million.
Let’s see if I understand this. Governor Quinn fired Northstar because fewer people in Illinois are wasting their money on lottery tickets. As long as Northstar is missing its targets because fewer lottery tickets are being sold, instead of because its expenses are up, etc., how is this a problem? It would seem to me to be a good thing if Illinois citizens are spending less money on useless things like the lottery, and more on other, better things. Maybe they’re trying to save a little money or pay down some debts, which would be good.
Illinois State Representative Jack Franks (D-Marengo) said that Northstar failed to meet its targets because it didn’t attract enough new players to the lottery and relied on current players to buy more tickets, which apparently didn’t happen either. But once again, how are these bad things? Fewer new people buying lottery tickets? That’s good. People who do buy lottery tickets buying fewer of them? That’s good, too.
I understand Illinois needs money. But let’s not get it this way. Lower revenues from the lottery are not a bad thing; they’re a good thing. Because it shows Illinois residents are getting smarter and aren’t wasting as much money on lottery tickets.
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