LAWMAKERS TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT CREATING STATE LOTTERY

CARSON CITY -- Why do some Las Vegans drive 80 miles every week to a gas station in Dolan Springs, Ariz., or 40 miles to a convenience store on the California side of Primm?

Likewise, why might Reno residents drive nine miles west to Verdi to a small store on the California side of the parking lot of Terrible's Gold Ranch Casino?

For that matter, what compels Assemblywoman Ellen Koivisto, D-Las Vegas, every so often to send money thousands of miles to her sister in Minnesota?

The answer in each case is lottery tickets. Because Nevada doesn't have a lottery, some residents will drive far out of their way to buy tickets in Arizona and California.

Powerball tickets in particular are in demand. The most recent grand prize winner won $163 million.

"This is money we should keep here," said Koivisto, who favors lawmakers beginning the four-year process to legalize a Nevada lottery.

In the next few weeks, the latest in an endless chain of resolutions to amend the state constitution to allow a Nevada lottery will be introduced in the Assembly, according to Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. It will be the 27th proposal introduced in the Legislature since 1975 to legalize lotteries.

Forty-two states now operate lotteries, while Nevada -- the state that legalized casino gaming in 1931 -- does not. Nevada's founding fathers decided in 1864 to place a constitutional ban on lotteries.

The odds of Nevada legislators approving a lottery have improved dramatically with Democrats gaining control of the state Senate for the first time in 18 years.

In both the 2005 and 2007 sessions, the Democratic-dominated Assembly overwhelmingly approved lottery resolutions, only to have them die in the Senate Judiciary Committee, then chaired by Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City. With Democrats controlling the state Senate, Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, now chairs the Judiciary Committee.

Over the years, Democrats generally have supported the idea of the lottery, while Republicans have opposed it. Each session, however, a couple of members of each party have voted with the other side.

Mormon legislators of both parties typically, but not always, vote against lotteries.

In addition to Care ascending to the chairmanship, the Judiciary Committee has added new two members who back lotteries: David Parks, D-Las Vegas, who supported lottery resolutions during a 12-year career in the Assembly, and Allison Copening, D-Las Vegas, who expressed support for a lottery during her campaign.

"I am not counting noses at this point," Care said. "I have received pro and con e-mail. I think I voted against it in the past. If it gets over here, we will give it a fair hearing."

Records show Care did vote against the lottery during the 2005 session when it was considered in the state Senate Judiciary Committee. He still has reservations.

"It is my gut feeling that people who buy lottery tickets are those who can least afford them. I have other questions. Is the lottery a tax? And we have gambling in this state. Do we want the state getting in the gambling business?"

The argument that lotteries hurt the poor often is raised by lottery opponents.

"I think it is a tax on the poor," said state Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas. "When somebody goes to store to buy two gallons of milk, they end up buying one and spending the rest on lottery tickets. The kids go to school hungry. Wealthy people aren't going to use a lottery to get ahead. The people who have nothing else to grasp for are going to be attracted to it."

Yet Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen, D-Las Vegas, is convinced that the lottery resolution will pass because Democrats control the state Senate. He said the people want a lottery, and during a recession, Nevada needs new sources of revenue.

"It is revenue to the state without raising taxes," he said. "We hear it from our constituents. They want a lottery."

Kihuen cites a poll, conducted by the Review-Journal in 2003, that 73 percent of voters want a state lottery.

Kihuen also does not see how a lottery would induce poor people to gamble away needed income any more than now, since they already have ample opportunity to gamble.

COMPETITION TO GAMING

Another chief argument against a Nevada lottery is that it would compete with the gaming industry for players who already have a declining amount of discretionary income.

Two years ago, Boyd Gaming and Station Casinos unveiled a study that found a Nevada lottery would create 316 new jobs in Nevada, while eliminating 595 jobs in the gaming and hospitality industry.

A state lottery, according to the study, would bring in just $48 million a year in profits for the state.

Jeremy Aguero, the Applied Analysis researcher who authored the study, also found if someone purchased 50 California Super Lotto tickets a week, that person would win the jackpot once every 5,000 years.

Kihuen was one of the chief advocates of a state lottery in 2007. At that time, he estimated a state lottery could bring in $50 million to $200 million a year. Before the recent economic downturn, California Lottery play was $3.5 billion a year, with profits of $1.2 billion going to education.

Since Nevada's population is 7 percent of California's 37 million, an $80 million haul from a state lottery doesn't appear unreasonable. That kind of money would not make much of a dent in the state government's current shortfall, though.

Gov. Jim Gibbons' $6.17 billion budget is about $1.8 billion less than what the administration projects is needed to keep state services at the levels of the budget approved in 2007.

"Certainly it would not be the end all or be all" to state budget problems, Koivisto said.

"I think people are aware of that, but they still believe it is a good idea for the state," Buckley added. "I supported it last time, and I will again."

Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, said in 2003 that a Nevada-based lottery would not bring in a lot of money. But she said the state could earn much more if it participated in the multi-state Powerball lottery.

Thirty-two states, including Arizona and Minnesota, along with Washington, D.C., sell Powerball tickets, which regularly has jackpots of $100 million.

On its Web site, Powerball gives the chances of winning such a prize as 1 in 195,249,054,000.

Establishing a Nevada lottery cannot be done overnight.

The state Senate and Assembly both must pass the enabling resolution this year and again during the 2011 legislative session. Then voters in the 2012 election must approve it.

So not before the legislative session in 2013 could lawmakers hammer out how a lottery would be conducted -- one run by the state, the gaming industry or a private company.

Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel @reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.