By M. Scott Bowen
Commissioner, Michigan Lottery

"Where does the Lottery money go?"

It's a question that been asked since 1972 when the Michigan Lottery was created. But it is a question that is easy to answer. All of the Lottery's profits--100 percent of them--go to education. In fact, in our 35-year history, we have contributed over $14 billion toward this very important beneficiary.

Yet the questions persist. "If all the Lottery money goes to education, why does my son not have current textbooks?" Or "Why are schools closing?"

The fiscal 2007 contribution—$748.9 million—is a huge amount of money to you and me. Likewise, it is a huge amount of money to one district, or two or three, or even 10 districts. But the state spends nearly $11 billion annually to provide an education for all Michigan children. If the sources of that funding are considered individually, the Lottery's portion would pay for just over 11 days of operation in a 180-day school year! In effect, the Lottery's contribution, while very significant, represents only about 6 percent of the total state expenditure on education. Without the Lottery's hundreds of millions of dollars each year, the School Aid Fund would be short by that amount. Such a dramatic shortfall would require the state to make up those funds from somewhere else, such as budget cuts in other departments or increases in taxes.

While our state's kids are big winners in the Michigan Lottery, they aren't the only ones who reap the benefits. In 35 years, players have won over $20.5 billion in prizes on 639 different instant games, 23 different online games, and over 25 second chance games. And we have paid out over $2.6 billion in commissions to the thousands of retailers who have consistently been our primary partners in bringing this source of entertainment to Michigan citizens.

To commemorate our 35 years of support of public education, the Lottery is partnering with the Department of Treasury to offer eight Michigan Education Trust pre-paid tuitions as prizes in the new State of Michigan "green ticket". This unique ticket offers Lottery players not only the cash prizes to which they are accustomed, but also a chance to provide a four-year college education for a very lucky Michigan youngster of their choice. The Lottery is pleased to offer this ticket that takes the Lottery's commitment to public education one step further.

With the launch of the State of Michigan green ticket, the Lottery is looking forward not only to awarding eight lucky youngsters their college educations, but to continuing to support public education for many years to come.

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