LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – With Arkansas looking at a $100 million budget deficit because of lower revenue, some state lawmakers are concerned that the new state lottery could be contributing to the economy situation, the Arkansas News Bureau reports.
“My concerns right now are, how do the lottery sales affect the revenue for the state that we’re currently seeing a downturn in?” said state Rep. Rick Green.
The Arkansas lottery began Sept. 28, with Powerball starting Oct. 31. Lottery officials predict the games will bring in around $400 million in annual ticket sales. Around a quarter of that money will fund scholarships, with the rest being paid out for prizes and the running of the lottery.
Retailers have been reporting that lottery ticket sales are siphoning off in-store sales. “For instance, people come in with a $20 bill that they would normally buy milk, eggs, probably some alcoholic beverage or whatever, and maybe $3 worth of gas. Now they buy a lottery ticket first. They may get the gas so they can have enough to go home, but the other sales seem to be suffering,” said state Rep. Garry Smith.
However, state officials are not sure the lottery is to blame. “I think it’s going to be next to impossible to really break it out, to really make a confident statement about it, partly because it could be pulling from lottery sales in surrounding states, so you have that adjustment in addition to the larger question about consumption,” said John Shelnutt, an economist with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
But some retailers have reported an increase in in-store sales of non-lottery items. “I think they went up a little bit, just for more customers coming in the store,” said Vickie Sosebee, a supervisor at an E-Z Mart. “Bottled beverage sales are up a little bit, candy sales are up a little bit.”