Gov. Brad Henry cleared another legislative hurdle Tuesday in his quest to give voters a chance to vote on whether they want a statewide lottery, an election that could be held as early as August.
The Senate Finance Committee, without debate, voted 8-5 for House Bill 1278, Henry's education lottery.
"I'm very pleased with the vote today. I would hope we move it along fairly quickly, but I want to go slow enough so everybody gets their questions answered," said Henry, who appeared at the meeting to speak on behalf of his lottery proposal.
Henry said the measure possibly could be amended further on the Senate floor. He has estimated a lottery could raise up to $300 million annually.
Henry said he hasn't given much thought to an election date for the lottery other than to say earlier that he wants an election in late summer if the Legislature approves sending it to voters.
"I think maybe August or September probably would be a good time for a vote, but I don't want to delay it much longer than that," he said.
The legislation is patterned in part after the Georgia state lottery, but changes have been made to tighten the law, said Sen. Angela Monson, D-Oklahoma City, who presented it Tuesday to the committee.
Examples of tightening the Oklahoma proposal include prohibiting sales to minors, earmarking money for treatment of and education on compulsive gambling disorders and increasing penalties for sales to minors, Monson said.
The legislation creates an Oklahoma Education Lottery Act that establishes a state lottery commission that would be governed by a seven-member board of trustees appointed by the governor with consent of the state Senate.
The commission would be allowed to issue up to $10 million in bonds for lottery start-up costs.
The bill specifies the amount of proceeds that would be allocated to prizes, education and operations. At least 45 percent of lottery proceeds would be allocated to prizes.
At least 35 percent is to be set aside for educational purposes and programs, except during the first two years when only 30 percent would be set aside each year. The other 5 percent each of the first two years would go toward operational expenses.
Of the amount earmarked for education, 5 percent would go to the School Consolidation and Assistance Fund and 5 percent to the Teachers Retirement System Fund.
The remaining 20 percent would go for operations, except in the first two years when it would receive the other 5 percent from the education allocation.
The bill prohibits the commission from employing anyone convicted of felonies or misdemeanors involving gambling or moral turpitude.
Anyone who sells a lottery ticket to a person under 18 or permits a person under 18 to play the lottery would be guilty of a misdemeanor if convicted. The conviction would carry a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 for the first offense.
Subsequent offenses by the same person would carry a fine of $200 to $1,000 and up to a year in the county jail.
Henry said he wasn't surprised there was no debate in the Finance Committee.
"I think most minds already have been made up," he said.
Asked if he thought he had the votes to pass it in the Senate, Henry replied, "I think so."
Monson explained the lottery proposal in the Finance Committee.
"I think one thing we've got to stress is that the education lottery money is earmarked for education, and those funds cannot be used to replace existing education funds," Monson said. "This proposal would ensure real additional dollars for public education."
The measure also includes language designed to keep the proposal from having any unintended effects.
One concern that has been raised is that having an education lottery would open the door for other types of tribal gambling in Oklahoma, Monson said.
"We're confident that would not be the case, but we have included a provision that would end the lottery then and there if the courts ruled otherwise," Monson said.
Henry said tribes could have a lottery if the state had one, but he doesn't think tribes have the infrastructure to conduct a lottery. It hasn't happened in other states, he said.
Senate leader Cal Hobson is the principal Senate author of the measure.
In the committee, six Democrats and two Republicans voted in favor of the measure.
Voting for the bill in committee were: Sens. Gilmer Capps, D-Snyder; Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant; Mike Johnson, R- Kingfisher; Robert Milacek, R-Enid; Ben Robinson, D-Muskogee; Dick Wilkerson, D- Atwood; Jeff Rabon, D-Hugo; and Monson.
Voting against it were Sens. Cliff Aldridge, R-Midwest City; Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City; Kenneth Corn, D-Howe; Mike Fair, R- Oklahoma City; and Kathleen Wilcoxson, R- Oklahoma City.
By John Greiner
Source: www.NewsOK.com
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