Check out Illinois' numbers breakdown, for example, which the Illinois school system isn't thrilled about:
• 56 cents of each $1 ticket revenue goes to prizes.
• 10 cents goes to operating expenses.
• 34 cents is left for the school fund.
• In fiscal year 2005, the Illinois State Lottery sold more than $1.8 billion in tickets.
• More than $1 billion went to prizes and $192 million covered expenses. That left $619 million for the school fund. It cost $20.6 billion in state, federal and local revenues to run Illinois' 3,877 elementary, junior high and secondary schools in 2005.
And some numbers from the Nevada situation ...
• Nevada has 563 public schools.
• A gaming industry study—the industry opposes competition from a state lottery—found that Nevada would receive about $48 million a year in profits from a state lottery.
• Dems say the lottery would raise $50 million to $200 million each year for education.
• 60 percent of people who play in lotteries have an income ranging from $35,000 to $75,000 per year.
• 73 percent of Nevadans favor a lottery anyway.
• The gaming study said a Nevada lottery would create 316 new jobs but lead to the elimination of 595 jobs in the hospitality industry, for a net loss of 279 jobs.
The Legislature has its hands full with numbers like these to wrangle in—it's a hard sell in the gambling capital of the world. So maybe we'll just keep driving to stateline to get the worst odds possible.
Mega Millions is played in 12 states, including California. This Nevada writer blew $20 vying for the $370 million, spent probably $15 on gasoline on the drive and $1.39 for a Diet Coke on the trip. But if I'd won ...
Sources: R-J, Las Vegas Sun, Illinois Association of School Boards.