Georgia Lottery ##TOP##

Subject to the published rules of POWERBALL and the Georgia Lottery Corporation, the prize amounts indicated here may be pari-mutuel. All claims, including litigation, if any, must be pursued only against the lottery of the state in which the ticket was purchased. This shall be the sole and exclusive remedy of the prize claimant.

About a quarter of lottery ticket sales support education. Most of the rest is paid out in prizes. The lottery has also amassed more than $1.1 billion in reserves. Building reserves for tough times is a wise fiscal strategy. Because the economy is unpredictable, it makes sense for the state to save so that it can follow through on its promises to Pre-K and college students in the event of a downturn. Half of the reserves are designated for use in case of a shortfall in lottery sales, but $600 million sits idle. That leads to an inefficient use of lottery funds.

Georgia Lottery

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The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute recommends state lawmakers take the following steps to ensure the lottery reaches its full potential without compromising the cushion set aside for a rainy day:

When people buy lottery tickets in Georgia, not all ticket sales go to education. About 60 percent is awarded back in prizes, and 24 percent goes to support Pre-K and the HOPE programs. The remaining 16 percent of state lottery revenue pays retailer commissions, administrative costs and other miscellaneous expenses. In 2017, the lottery sold more than $4.5 billion worth of tickets. About $2.7 billion was awarded in prizes and $1.1 billion went to the Lottery for Education Account.[1]

The General Assembly tallies available lottery funds each legislative session to decide how much to appropriate to support education. The Legislature appropriated $367 million from the lottery in the 2019 state budget for Pre-K and $808 million for HOPE scholarships and grants, totaling $1.2 billion.[2] Historically, lottery dollars are split so an average of one-third go to Pre-K and two-thirds goes to support HOPE programs.[3]

The lottery is best known today for funding HOPE and Pre-K, but in earlier years lottery proceeds supported significant investments in educational technology and capital projects. This funding included:

North Carolina caps lottery reserves at $25 million. Recently the state appropriated $30 million from lottery funds to start a Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund in its 2018 budget, increasing to $75 million for 2019. The fund awards grants to lower-wealth counties for public school capital projects. Counties match grant funds based on a development tier, with lowest-wealth counties getting $3 from lottery money for every $1 in county funding.[12] Future surpluses are set to continue transferring to the Needs-Based School Capital Fund.

Setting aside reserves for tough times is sound fiscal strategy. The economy is unpredictable and lottery-funded programs depend on ticket sales, so it makes sense for the state to save so that it can follow through on promises made to Pre-K and college students.

Attorney General Thurbert Baker announced today that a grand jury in Fulton County has returned an indictment against Harvey Collier, a former retailer for the Georgia Lottery, in a scheme to steal Georgia lottery tickets. The indictment, returned Thursday, October 12, charges that Mr. Collier, owner of K & S Foods, between March 16 and March 29, 2000, ordered over 2,300 Happy Holiday game tickets, scratched them himself, and presented the winning tickets either to other stores or to the Georgia Lottery office to redeem. He never paid for the tickets. The indictment charges Collier with 8 separate counts of theft by taking, one for each day he activated a new batch of lottery tickets.

*According to data from AppFollow. Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. Must be 18+, 21+ in AZ and 19+ in NE. Not affiliated with any State Lottery. Gambling Problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY); 1-800-327-5050 (MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (all others). Visit jackpocket.com/tos for full terms.

Since 1992, multi-million-dollar lottery jackpots, instant scratch-off games and other legal gambling proceeds have produced more than $27 billion in funds for educational programs in Georgia. The Georgia Lottery has paid for more than two million 4-year-olds to attend pre-kindergarten programs.

The pre-K program in Georgia is funded by proceeds from state and national lottery ticket sales. After prize winners are paid, and administrative costs are covered, the net lottery proceeds are deposited by the Georgia Lottery Corporation into an education lottery reserve account managed by the state treasurer. Those monies are used exclusively to fund both pre-K and the HOPE college scholarship, grant and loan programs.

In Fiscal Year 2023, which ended in June, $1.5 billion in lottery proceeds were deposited into the education lottery reserve account, which totaled $2.16 billion. The state budgeted $444 million in lottery funds to be spent on pre-K in Fiscal Year 2024, which began in Julyy.

Since its inception in 1993, the lottery has returned more than $25.7 billion to the state for education. More than 2 million students have received HOPE scholarships, and more than 1.7 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.

The lottery program has undergone significant changes over the years. The HOPE Scholarships initiative initially set family income limits to qualify but soon switched to a merit-based program as lottery ticket sales greatly exceeded early expectations.

"We are thrilled to partner with the Atlanta Motor Speedway for this exciting event," Georgia Lottery Corp. President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said. "This partnership gives us a chance to increase brand awareness, connect with our players, and ultimately generate dollars for education, as all Georgia Lottery profits benefit the HOPE scholarship and grant, including the Zell Miller Scholarship, as well as lottery-funded Pre-K."

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $20.7 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.8 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.6 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program. For more information on the Georgia Lottery Corp., please visit www.galottery.com.

During the last fiscal year, Scratchers and iLottery sales reached record highs. Mega Millions and Powerball played a huge role in lottery sales as well, with four of the top 10 jackpots in U.S. history occurring during the year.

But Sen. Larry Walker says that is what is happening back in his middle Georgia district. In Georgia, winners playing on any of the nearly 25,000 machines in the state are only eligible for credits that can be redeemed for lottery tickets, fuel and store merchandise. The winnings cannot go toward alcohol, cigarettes, firearms and other off-limits items.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and Twitter.

LONDON, Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- International Game Technology PLC ("IGT") (NYSE: IGT) announced today that its subsidiary, IGT Global Solutions Corporation, signed a seven-year contract extension with the Georgia Lottery Corporation ("Georgia Lottery") to deploy its world-class lottery and iLottery products and technology, enhancing the modernization of the Georgia Lottery's offerings. The contract extension will run through September 2032.

"As one of the most successful lotteries in the U.S., the Georgia Lottery has relied on IGT to deliver growth-driving lottery products for nearly 30 years," said Jay Gendron, IGT Chief Operating Officer, Global Lottery. "The Georgia Lottery has consistently embraced the evolving lottery landscape with ease, seeing the many benefits of IGT's innovative solutions. The deployment of IGT's industry-leading cashless technologies, advanced lottery and iLottery system upgrades and new retail hardware as part of this contract extension will support the Lottery's plans for future growth."

As part of the contract extension, IGT will install cashless functionality on more than 10,000 point-of-sale retail terminals, enabling players to purchase lottery with a debit card. Customer-facing ticket scanners will also be implemented on more than 10,000 retail terminals to support player-initiated transactions including QR codes, digital playslips and other digital offers.

Additionally, IGT will deliver upgrades to the Georgia Lottery's lottery and iLottery central system. These upgrades would include the ability to migrate components of each system to the cloud. Among many benefits, cloud technology would offer the Georgia Lottery dynamic scalability and a reduced time to market for system enhancements. It also facilitates faster and easier integration of data and insights as a further enrichment to the overall player experience.

As the global lottery market leader, IGT is the primary technology provider to eight of the world's largest 10 lotteries and 16 of the world's top 25 lotteries. For more information, visit IGT.com and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The Georgia Lottery Corporation, known as the Georgia Lottery, is overseen by the government of Georgia, United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the lottery takes in over US$1 billion yearly. By law, half of the money goes to prizes, one-third to education, and the remainder to operating and marketing the lottery. The education money funds the HOPE Scholarship, and has become a successful model for other lotteries, including the South Carolina Education Lottery. 2351a5e196