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To the editor:
In almost every conversation these days, one topic is inevitably bound to surface - money.
Our Governor, Chuck Robb, talked of recent budget cuts in a December joint Committee meeting: “These actions have resulted in a total reduction in spending of $123 million. If we were to continue only the present five percent cutback ^into .Ihe second year .qjf, the. biennium, against the same programs, and continue all of our existing initiatives to control costs, we would still need $130 million more to balance our budget for the biennium.”
Virginians know, economically, times are rough and will get rougher before they get better. We all know how history repeats itself; for example, during the founding of our Commonwealth, wise citizens such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Nathaniel Harrison and the Byrds discovered a viable solutionthe lottery. Money raised was used to finance the Virginia Company, build churches, schools, canals and other worthwhile projects.
I believe most Virginians feel they have plenty of taxes levied against them and do not want more. This is the reason I think a state lottery for Virginia is an idea whose time has come.
I realize there are a few readers who will quit at this point, but I ask you to hear me out.
A state run public lottery system is a direct way of raising revenue without raising taxes, i.e. a “voluntary” tax. Lotteries are already operational in 14 states and another 15 are in the process of implementing one. For example, Pennsylvania raises $152 million a year, using this money for free mass transit and reducing taxes paid by the elderly; Maryland’s lottery, after 6 years of operation, nets $175 million a year, netting more money than any other program except for income taxes and there has been no hint of scandal to its lottery program or to those of any other state control led lotteries; and Washington, D.C. just initiated a lottery expected to net approximately $30 million a year.
It is my belief, founded on numerous conversations with
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