Friday, April 26, 2013
Blog 7
The Texas lottery was almost put out this past Wednesday, but last minute voting kept the lottery running at least until the next legislation period in 2015. The House gave final approval only a day after they voted to kill the Texas lottery. Apparently the popularity of the state funded gambling program has been dwindling for some time. From the beginning of the lottery in the 1990s, the purpose was to use the revenue from the lottery to help pay for education in our state, but somehow we are putting less towards our children's education now than we were in the 90s. And yet, the funds are going to other places, such as veterans in our state that need some extra assistance. This prompts me to ask some questions. The money produced by this lottery program, if discontinued will have to be found some other way. Yes it is gambling, and I never actually buy tickets anyway, but other people do in this state. Why can't we just find a way to make it popular again, and then put the money to good use like intended? Our state education really needs some serious attention and I think with some adequate advertising we could use the lottery as a starting point to get our schools up to par.
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Blog 8: Critique Classmates Blog
ReplyDeleteThe Texas Lottery, almost went away this past April 2013. The Texas lottery, the House voted 92-53 to continue the Texas Lottery Commission.
According to Misty’s Dive Into Texas Government Blog, apparently our lottery has been losing popularity in the past few years. The whole purpose of the lottery was to bring money into the state and help bring money into our school system. Misty’s blog is good, but lacks more information in regards to how much money is being brought into the state by the lottery.
The lottery has accounted for about $21 billion since its inception. If the lottery would have been voted out, our public schools would have lost out $2.2 Billion (over two years). This would have also made bingo in the state of Texas illegal. There are non-profit organizations, such as Church’s that use bingo as a way to bring money into their organizations.
Our schools already lack funds for better education. So why take away the money that the lottery can continue to give schools? I am glad that it will be here for at least the next few years. What we need to do is educate the public more about the benefits of keeping the lottery around.
The Texas Lottery Commission, should use money towards more advertising (commercials) to educate the public. I would have to disagree with Misty about the money going towards other programs or organizations, such as our veterans. Our veterans have fought for our country and deserve our help.