One bourbon, one scotch, and one lottery ticket

You know what I was thinking? I was thinking that what our great state's watering holes really needed was the ability to sell lottery tickets. And now, they may just get it.

The House gave final approval this afternoon to a bill by Rep. Chente Quintanilla, D-Tornillo, that would OK the sale of lottery tickets in bars. Plenty of people might wonder whether hawking lottery tickets around inebriated people is good public policy, but few in the House were asking any questions.

The bill passed with no debate, either last night on second reading or today, when it passed 116-21. One legislative aide explained that when the House took up the measure last night, the House's most ardent gambling opponents were stuck in some committee.

The commission estimated that it could raise $20 million over two years by expanding ticket sales to certain drinking establishments.

It's now been passed on third reading, so whatever happens next is up to the Senate. I should note that the Statesman blog puts its revenue estimate at $64 million. I'm not sure where the discrepancy is. The El Paso Times' Brandi Grissom quotes the bill's author:

"If a person is going to consume liquor, maybe they will consume less if they can sit there and buy lottery tickets," Quintanilla said.

Plus, he said, hopefully it will bring in more lottery money to send to schools.

Um, okay. Given how stacked against you the Lottery is, I figure it'll lead to more drinking to drown the sorrow of losing. Alternately, I suppose a big winner might buy a round for the house. Either way, I don't see how less consumption is likely to follow. And if it did, that would mean less revenue for the state. Not enough to offset the increase from the lottery sales, perhaps, but still.

Anyway. Grissom also cited the $64 million figure, for what it's worth. Rep. Quintanilla is apparently looking for a Senate sponsor, so we'll see what happens.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 12, 2007 to Jackpot!