The Pennsylvania Lottery, a very successful lottery system which is currently state ran and located in Pennsylvania is considering expanding their presence onto the Internet, to offer online ticket sales and Keno opportunities.
Recent comments from state officials suggest that the expansion could actually increase revenue for the system and provide significant benefits for its long-lasting success. In fact, they even said that it would benefit seniors substantially, since they would be able to play the lottery while they are sitting at home and the money generated from the system would be put toward senior welfare. However, state employee unions are speaking up and saying “Not so fast!.” Some of the critics to this opportunity say that Governor Tom Corbett is secretly trying to privatize the lottery industry. Of course, some of these claims are far-fetched, but others have been supported with well-documented research.
If the expansion were to happen for the Pennsylvania Lottery system, then people would be able to purchase online lottery tickets. It would also allow businesses to have terminals for Keno and online lottery tickets within their business. This is something that the state of Illinois actually did last year, and it has been very successful for them and other states are expected to follow in their footsteps, but these complications are holding them back.
Lawmakers are saying that they just aren’t sure what the governors plan is here. Is he really trying to privatize the lottery system and why does he think that would be successful? They are also wondering whether or not outside vendors even have means to take over something that has previously been ran by the state, and has been successfully generating over $1 billion a year. They use some of this money for senior services and other types of welfare, so if it were to get privatized, where would all of this money go and what would it mean for the state of Pennsylvania?
Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania says that privatizing the lottery system would actually make it a better system, and it would be far more profitable. There a lot of free-market economists and politicians that believe that privatizing as much is possible is a better route for our government, but the government often holds back to retain control. A recent statement from the office of governor Corbett said that: “If we can ensure increased funding and protect our seniors who are the recipients of the lottery…then we have our obligation to take a look at privatizing.”
At the moment, there is no word on whether or not this issue can get resolved responsibly. Certainly privatizing the Pennsylvania lottery could be a good direction for the state. Often times, businesses are able to generate more profit and far more revenue than the government can. Governments do not run businesses successfully, they are not profit driven, and therefore, the amount of money that they can make off of running it through the state is far less. If they were to get privatized, more money could be made and jobs could be created throughout the industry, which is more than you can say for the lottery industry today.