SJ248: Study; JLARC to study feasibility of allocating a larger portion of VA Lottery prize money.
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 248
WHEREAS, the Virginia Lottery is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia established in 1987; and
WHEREAS, the Virginia Lottery financially benefits the many small businesses that sell lottery tickets and the larger companies that participate in merchandising campaigns or provide advertising or computer services; and
WHEREAS, a portion of the money collected by the Virginia Lottery is used as prize money to award the winners and to pay the costs of administering the Virginia Lottery; and
WHEREAS, since 1999, 100 percent of the Virginia Lottery's profits are used to support Virginia public education, K-12; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, the Virginia Lottery's profits totaled $533.8 million, which accounted for approximately eight percent of school funding in Virginia; and
WHEREAS, fiscally stressed localities across the state would benefit from the allocation of a greater portion of Virginia Lottery prize money; and
WHEREAS, a review of the effect that increasing the percentage of the Virginia Lottery proceeds allocated to localities is necessary to determine whether there will be a negative impact on the operations of the Virginia Lottery; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study the feasibility of allocating a larger portion of Virginia Lottery prize money to localities.
In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall (i) review how the Virginia Lottery would be affected if prizes were reduced by up to five percent to provide a greater return to localities, (ii) determine if operational costs could be reduced to provide an alternative way to return more money to localities, and (iii) review other related issues and make recommendations as appropriate.
All agencies of the Commonwealth, including the Virginia Lottery Department, shall provide assistance to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2017, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2018 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.