State Representative
Bob Ness

ST. PAUL Minnesotans continue to spend millions on lottery gambling, according to Rep. Bob Ness. The Minnesota State Lottery recently released figures for fiscal year 1998, which show a significant increase in gaming over the previous year, including in the counties of McLeod, Meeker and Wright.

"For whatever reason, gambling activity continues to increase every year," Ness said.

In Ness' District 20A, state lottery gambling generated $3,325,400 for fiscal year 1998. Of these sales, $2.6 million was spent on scratch-off games, and $668,500 was spent on numbers games. These figures account for Powerball, Cash4Life, Gopher 5, Daily 3 and instant scratch-off tickets. Charitable gaming, raffles, tip-boards, paddle wheels, bingo or Indian gaming are not included in this report.

If you include money wagered on charitable gaming, then McLeod, Meeker and Wright residents wagered almost $52 MILLION in fiscal year 1998. To put that number in perspective, this year's entire budget for the Hutchinson School District is $18 million.

Ness said not all is lost, as some of the gambling proceeds goes to help preserve the Environment and Natural Resource Trust Fund, and the state General Fund. Here's how gambling proceeds from District 20A were distributed:

$216,714 went to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Projects funded include the sealing of abandoned wells in McLeod County, repairing the Luce Line Trail, and the purchase of 51.6 acres of easements in Meeker County.

$325,071 went to the state's General Fund Programs funded such as public safety, health and human services, and aid to local government.

$1,698,917 went out in lottery prizes, not even half of the total amount wagered. $369,932 went to lottery retailers in commissions and incentives, and to the General Fund from in-lieu-of sales tax on lottery tickets.

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Since 1997, 30 people from the McLeod/Meeker area have won prizes of $5,000 or more from playing the lottery, investing over $5 million. From that group, six winners were from Hutchinson, and three winners were from Litchfield. The biggest payout was $100,000 to an individual in Hutchinson.

Statewide, lottery sales totaled $372.9 million for fiscal year 1998, an increase of 1.2 percent from the previous year. A Minnesota State Lottery Survey found that 93 percent of adult Minnesotans have wagered on at least one of 12 gambling activities. The state's General Fund received $62.8 million in net proceeds, unclaimed prizes and compulsive gambling contributions. Since the lottery started in April 1990, Minnesotans have wagered a total of more than $3 BILLION, generating almost $735 million for the State of Minnesota General Fund.

However, Ness pointed out that money spent on state lottery games is minor, compared to what Minnesotans spent on other types of gambling. "Just in charitable gambling alone, Minnesotans spent more than $1.4 billion in 1998," Ness said. Some figures from this type of gaming include $1.3 billion generated by charitable pull-tabs, and $77 million in bingo.

Indian gaming continues to generate billions in revenue, from both Minnesota residents and tourists. While the state has little oversight of Indian casinos, it's estimated they generate revenue of well over $4 billion a year.

"I continue to be concerned about the casinos' contribution to the problem of gambling addiction in this state," Ness said. "I don't think we can even calculate what the costs are to the state's taxpayers to deal with the downside effects of gambling addiction."

What follows is a table showing the amount of money spent in fiscal year 1998 on state lottery games in Rep. Ness' legislative district, 20A:

City Retailer s Total Sales Instant sales Numbers game sales Prize money

paid out Money to General Fund Money to ETF Payment to retailers Cokato 1 $181,964 $130,858 $51,106 $94,345 $29,482 $12,010 $10,372 Dassel 2 $175,017 $136,713 $38,304 $85,344 $28,703 $11,551 $9,976 Eden Valley 3 $143,040 $110,647 $32,393 $76,712 $23,458 $9,441 $8,153 Hutchins on 18 $1,829,697 $1,429,506 $400,191 $922,654 $300,070 $120,760 $104,293 Litchfield 9 $897,305 $728,616 $168,689 $475,156 $147,158 $59,222 $51,146 Watkins 3 $159,064 $130,139 $28,925 $89,808 $26,086 $10,498 $9,067

Charitable gambling in 1998 in McLeod, Meeker and Wright counties generated $52,825,000. Here are those figures, broken down by counties:

In McLeod County: $13,990,000 was wagered in 1998 as compared to $12,886,000 in 1997, an increase of 8.6 percent (more)

In Meeker County: $6,292,000 was wagered in 1998 as compared to $6,566,000 in 1997, a decrease of 4.2 percent In Wright County: $32,543,000 was wagered in 1998 as compared to $30,048,000 in 1997, an increase of 8.3 percent.

"Virtually every time you wager, you know you will lose," Ness said. "Yet every year, people continue to spend more and more on all forms of gambling. Whether people are more prosperous and have more to spend on gambling, or if they are just more desperate, and are hoping against all odds that they could win, is a mystery to me," Ness said.

"Gambling activity crosses all age groups," Ness continued. "But the increase in gaming participation among people ages 18 to 24 is especially ominous, and bears a potential long-term cost to society."

For more information on gambling or any other legislative issues, please write Representative Bob Ness at 509 State Office Building, 100 Constitution Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55155, or call him at 651-296-4344.

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