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Nevada lottery plan to be back for consideration
Wednesday, September 06, 2006 posted 11:32 AM EDT
CARSON CITY, Nev. - A proposal for a statewide Nevada lottery, discussed by state lawmakers for years, will resurface during
the 2007 session. But odds of the plan's approval still seem about as long as buying a winning lottery ticket.
Efforts to amend the Nevada Constitution to permit a lottery have failed repeatedly - more than a dozen times since 1975
- due mainly to opposition from the state's dominant casino industry which fears lottery play would cut into gambling action
in the clubs.
One of those who voted against a 2005 lottery proposal, Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, has requested a bill to lift the
prohibition against lotteries in Nevada, with the profits going to public schools.
Hoping to ease the industry's concerns, Nolan said he wants to ensure that casinos aren't harmed by a lottery. One of the
industry-protecting "firewalls" in his plan would cancel the lottery if it cuts into casinos' profits.
The Nevada Constitution states that "no lottery may be authorized by this state, nor may lottery tickets be sold." In the
past, the state attorney general's office has interpreted that to mean that Nevada businesses also can't sell tickets for
other states' lotteries.
Forty-one states and the District of Columbia authorize state lotteries. Nine states, including Nevada, ban them. In this
state, a lottery proposal must pass the Legislature twice and then be approved by voters.
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